Plot goes a little weird and drags at times but overall very good animation that set a trend

Rating: Null/10 (24 November 2002)

In 1988 Tokyo is destroyed in a nuclear style blast. 30 years later the city has been rebuilt but has become troubled by youth and biker gangs. An encounter with a powerful child leaves one of a gang, Tetsuo, injured and captured by the army. They find his mind has powers that can be developed  however the lessons of the mysterious Akira are still fresh in their minds and the army know they must control his development. Meanwhile Tetsuo's friend, Kaneda, fights corrupt politicians, a powerful military and the power of the opened human brain to get his friend back.
When I went to see this film at a big cinema chain that I won't name, it had been over 10 years since I'd last seen the movie and could remember very little of it. The screening was cancelled because the emergency lights couldn't be shut off (d'oh) but we were all offered free tickets for later. Coming back to it I hoped it would be worth the bother and, on the whole, it was. This type of film is usually all visual flair and some messed up plot about demons etc. Akira is almost that but rises about the average by being cleverer than that and by being one of the first of it's type.
The animation is excellent  breathtaking cityscapes and futuristic effects. The violence is graphic but is nothing compared to modern Japanese standards. It doesn't take away from the film and it all looks great. The use of sound (or rather silence) is also effective with powerful silences at key moments really adding to the film.
The plot goes a bit nuts at times and ends up with the body horror of many films of the genre. However at it's core it is looking at the idea of humans using their full brain power and possible next steps for evolution. That doesn't mean it doesn't drag at all and several bits do go on too long  the ending in particular never seems to reach a closing point! I felt it could easily have taken 20 minutes less and still done the same job.
The only problem I had with the version I saw was the hammy American voice work. It really made it feel clichéd. However overall the film looks good and has some great action. It may not be a classic film and the genre is a bit of an acquired taste but this is a solid film that (partly due to it's age) transcends many of the clichés the genre later acquired.