Review of Akira (1988) by Ransom F — 24 Dec 2013

Five stars, shocking, I know.

I don't care if it isn't filed as a psychological thriller, I'm calling it one. This movie proved what simple moving drawings could do. It showed that there are absolutely no limits to animation. The fact that it managed to prove this after such a thing had been debated for over a half century alone shows that it deserves this rating. But of course, it needs more.

The characters are just really, really fucking fun. They're solid and believable. Tetsuo is just a normal kid who discovers he can do incredible things, and like many people with that kind of power, he goes batshit insane. Kaneda wants to help pull Tetsuo out of this crazed state because he's his friend and would die for him, not to mention he pulls some of the funniest one liners I've ever heard.

The story has been abused over and over again, but it's like a How to Train Your Dragon before its time. It's polished and refurnished with some interesting new additions. Basically the main character discovers he has amazing powers and these make him go nuts and he becomes evil. And of course, someone has to stop him. But it seems so... UNFAMILIAR even though it has been repeated more than a thousand times. It's almost as if it's completely new. This movie is the JAWS of the manga world, the movie is better than the book.

The reason I call this a psychological thriller is because it really fucks with your mind... just like a psychological thriller. And let's face it, psychological thrillers usually share one thing in common: the moments the credits roll, you start thinking... HARD.

And the way you think with Akira is what sets it apart from other psycho thrillers. Rather than waiting for the end to think, you think DURING the film. Yet the thinking doesn't deviate you from focusing on it, you can question an event that happened an hour ago and hear every single word said right now.

This makes it a 5 out of 5, and, to be honest, the greatest psychological thriller of all time.