Astounding and complete.

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2012)

I recently watched Akira again, unsure if it would hold up after so many viewings. It did.
The animation and music is fantastic. Tetsuo's "nightmare scene" in his cell is a masterpiece on its own. The way it builds its music from tiny noises to a full-blown surrealistic symphony couldn't have been better.
Akira successfully realizes more than an adventure, more than a story, more than just a movie - a vision. The world it creates is fleshed out and complex. Still, with all the politics going on in Neo-Tokyo, the film never loses focus from the heart of it all - the friendship between Kaneda and Tetsuo. The side characters are all memorable to some degree - the Colonel is one of my favourite characters of any movie. However, characters and character development is not the main focus of the film, the story is what's important. And it's a great story.
I have to mention the animation again because it is just incredible. If not as flawless and glossy as that in modern anime, the style of the city and the characters still make it the downright coolest animation I've seen. The film is, if nothing else, a visual (and aural) masterpiece. On top of this, it's just so damn entertaining. Well worth seeing several times, which isn't something you can say about any movie.
I love the iconic imagery, the well-needed humour provided by Kaneda's likable biker gang, and most of all, the gloriously apocalyptic conclusion. Akira is an essential film, one of a kind, and the very idea of a remake is laughable. A must-see.