Review of Akira (1988) by Marco F — 16 Aug 2013

AKIRA is one of the most visionary and intentive of all films. This is in my opinion the greatest Japanese "anime" film ever made. Few films- if any- are as original, as intentive and as boldly daring and brilliant in their vision of a sprawling metropolis as this film. It is a bit pessimistic, ugly and grim- but there is hope. If the film did not have hope, it would be just discomforting and excessive. This is such high quality cinema that I didn't even see it as an animated film 5 minutes into my viewing. I was totally floored by the confidence and the understanding director and creator Kathsuhiro Otomo has in this material. He really believes in it- and the film really gets into sci-fi territory here that is difficult to take in, so to speak.

The film is really violent- particularly for an animated film; don't see it if you're squeamish. But this film is so full of energy, excitement and spectacle that you just can't turn away from it. The vision of Neo-Tokyo as a physical city, its inhabitants, and what goes on in it is, well, amazing. I can't recommend this film enough- there isn't any other like it.