Less Than What I Expected

Rating: 4/10 (17 March 2002)

I am not familiar with anime, or Japanimation, or manga, or any other sort of Asian animation style. I watched Akira because of its reputation as one of the best films of its genre. Evaluating Akira as a film, however, as opposed to a cultural phenomenon, I thought it was disappointing. The animation style is very detailed and glossy, although in 2002 (with films such as Shrek, Toy Story, Final Fantasy, and Waking Life in circulation) the visuals in Akira are nothing special - they even seem somewhat dated. What really bothered me about the film was the lack of interesting characters, uneven pacing, and an alternately boring and incoherent plot. What could have been an interesting story about human evolution and government conspiracies gets stuck in a teenage biker gang soap opera before falling off the metaphysical deep end in the last twenty minutes. This might make sense to people who are familiar with anime styles and stories (I think that Akira was a book before it became a film), but speaking as someone who is not versed in that folklore I was left scratching my head in confusion and not enjoying this cinematic experience. I give the film 4/10.