Mind blowing

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 1999)

If Uncle Walt could stop bouncing little children on his knee and refrain from telling them stories about handsome Princes rescuing beautiful Princesses from the clutches of evil fiends he could go out and take in a John Woo, Brian DePalma or Sam Peckinpah film. If he did, he could go out and make one of these. A gloriously stylish, plot-riddled, and spiritual (albeit violent) film.
Yes, I said 'film.' This is not a cartoon and never will be. The term 'animation' could be used but that barely does it true justice. Akira is one of the most marvellously cinematic experiences ever made. Easily the best all-round example Anime ever. And there have been some damn good ones. But because of its animated nature this, and many other great 'films' will never be truly taken seriously. Which is a shame for any fan of cinema.
There has been much criticism levelled at Akira and it is easy to see why. The film attempts to squeeze into two small hours over 20 issues of a full size Japanese comic. The fact that the comic series was never finished when Akira went into production means that it also has a slight incomplete feel to it. Many are easily confused as to what it all means. I have to admit that I'm one of them. But repeated viewings with a firm grasp of where the film is heading helps and the fact remains that it is truly compulsive viewing.
The best way to approach this is to treat it like any other film. The characters may be paint and pen but you still care more about them than the humans in a lot of expensive, flimsy blockbusters (makers of a film involving a certain big, green lizard take note.) There are sub-plots and histories which all give the people some kind of personality. Kutsuhiro, the director, achieves his masterpiece using the same methods as any other director. Pacy editing makes for some disturbing dream sequences. Zooms, pans and slo-mos turn in some dazzling action scenes and the animation is as impressive as any expensive CGI. The one true criticism I lay at it is its graphic scenes of violence. There's more blood and shredded corpses in this film than Verhoeven could get away with. This is not a film for under-fifteens and its brutal nature will shock anybody expecting a Japanese Mickey Mouse.
That apart the result is a marvelous trip into the surreal that screams out to be made into a 'real' film. If a studio did decide to take the plunge then the end result would be a thing of incredible beauty. But its unlikely to happen. CGI will never be good enough to pull off the nightmares and the cost to make this would make Titanic's budget look like chump change. Add to that the incredible cult fan base this film has, and the fact that a live-action version is sure to be booed by most of them, and it would be a brave company that would try to adapt it. And bravery isn't something the Hollywood system is known for is it.