Impressive animation with an impressive storyline.

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2000)

The movie takes place in the near future, where Tokyo is in a state of insurrection, decay and confusion. In the middle of all this, we meet Kanada and his biker gang. In the background, we meet the government. They are trying to recreate an entity of pure knowledge, the title's Akira. Some strange, psychic beings are forced to help the government in this, or so it appears. Hell is unleashed when one of Kanada's gangers, the young, insecure Tetsuo, collides with one of the aforementioned psychic beings.
This movie has a lot on its heart, from social commentary (and occasionally satire) to the danger of testing limits. Actually, the movie benefits from being seen some times, since you'll probably have more than enough to do trying to follow the plotline the first time, and since the deeper, double meanings of the movie. Especially if you have the English dubbed version, which contains some horrible voice acting. But, that's a minor nuisance, since the backgrounds, the characters, everything is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l-l-y animated, running at 30(!) frames per second, hence making some Disney movies look like stuttering low-budget scrap. And Disney's movies are scrap compared to this.
The movie's music is a worth the movie in itself. The publishers haven't remixed/remade the music as they have in other manga titles, keeping the dark, doomsday-like atmosphere the music creates. Even in it's happier moments, the music is enough to make you feel that something terrible is imminent.
I particularly like the movie, with it's deep plot, it's many-faceted meanings, it's art, it's music -- this movie is for the casual manga/animation fan (the art), and for the movie lover (the plot/music) and for the true manga-maniac (all of the aforementioned). However, the ending of the movie is a little bit strange, and will confuse some not accustomed to manga. For me, the ending is not a problem, but some may be disappointed.
All in all, the movie is a must-see for anyone interested in animation, and for any film-lover with an open mind to animation. Highly recommended.