Review of Akira (1988) by Ben G — 23 Apr 2013

Plot: Interesting to say the least. The movie has many subplots running concurrently with it's main plot of a bike gang member turned psychic with demi-god level powers. It has enough twists and turns to always keep you guessing as to what will happen next, but it can take the appearance of being incoherent with the movie's tendency to not explain stuff until later on, when the moment you were scratching your head as to what was happening had already passed. To really appreciate everything in this film, from it's criticisms on the government and society, to science and technology will probably take two viewings.

Acting/Script: Probably the weakest point of the whole movie. The dialogue is pretty simplistic, and reeking of anime-isms ranging from screaming character's names over and over, to using fancy science words to explain things in ways that don't really make sense if the viewer has any real level of scientific back ground. To be fair, I did watch the movie in Japanese with english subtitles, and I'm sure it would have been better if I could actually understand the original Japanese. The voice actors for the most part delivered pretty passable lines, with none of the overly high pitched screaming that usually grates my ears when watching anime.

Soundtrack: Not much to say about the soundtrack seeing as I can't really remember much of it after only having watched the movie minutes ago. It was mostly fitting, with no songs standing out as being extraordinarily good or bad.

Visuals: The definite strongest point of the movie, and the biggest reason I would recommend at least one viewing of Akira. Many of the stills of the movie are beautiful on their own accord, and all the characters are extremely well animated, from the spry protagonist, to the grotesque form the antagonist takes on later in the movie. However, my favorite visuals have to be the light trails the motorcycles leave behind, reminiscent of the Tron movies.

Overall: I'd say go see it. Once for the visuals, twice if you want a really complete grasp on the story and themes of the movie. Not my favorite anime movie, but a damn good one. 4/5.