Considering its cult stature, you can't help but be a little disappointed with the ending.

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2001)

8/10. There are minor spoilers.
This movie has some of the best known set pieces in all of anime: the the speeding bike chase with tail lights that drag behind them like in Tron, the similar effect that was used on Tetsuo to show that he was in pain, the giant gurgling monstrosity that Tetsuo later becomes, the psychic children's playroom, and of the course the rebel's grenade that goes off a little too late.
I can't really blame Katsuhiro Otomo (writer and director) for being a fan of 1960's hyper-kinetic movies and Dennis Hopper, but I can blame him for the incoherent ending (I can only assume Otomo's comic series was more detailed as it lead up to it). Short of being an allegory about the use of nuclear weapons (and our current inability to properly control that power), it doesn't really have any parallel in actual life--something all good works of social satire should have (assuming you are inclined to consider Akira a social satire).