Deep-cool, a great and rare combination

Rating: 10/10 (23 May 2006)

Not often does a movie come out that has both kick-ass action and storyline, but also a deep hidden meaning and some huge questions. 2001 must have been one of the first, even though it's "coolness" has faded over four decades. Since then, every now and then movie-makers has decided to coat existentialism with action-packed innovation. Matrix is one of the latest to mix the two in a good way.
Akira is another of those movies. The story starts out on a pretty basic level but quickly unfolds at a brisk rate which forces you as a viewer to keep your eyes peeled. This is made very easy in Akira by the amazing visuals, the fast and sometimes mysterious storyline and a kicking soundtrack.
Akira is raw and uncompromising, the action is over-the-top and spectacular, the setting(Neo-Tokyo) is fantastic, and the characters intriguing. At the end of the movie, we also get a good dose of theology/science ideas thrown at us for good measure. Combine all of these and you're in for quite a ride.
Akira was one of the movies that started the Manga phenomena outside Japan. It's not hard to see why. Even though I've seen very little Manga, the few movies I have seen has convinced me that the Japanese have a lethal advantage over Western animation. Nothing wrong with that either. The best outcome is, of course, that Hollywood smartens up and starts to come up with some cool ideas themselves. We'll just have to wait and see. Until that happens, there's still a ton of Japanese movies to see.