Review of Akira

I had high expectations for this film, having seen so much hype around it. However I didn't know what to expect. I went into this with expectations too high, but was satisfied in another way. This is definitely a cult classic. Story: It took some time for me to figure out what was going on. The plot is very simple, if you could call it plot at all. It felt more like the movie was centered around a main event. It's thanks to the many details of the film that helped make it seem "whole". Many stories start out in the middle of action, howeverit felt like this whole movie was action all the way through. The few scenes that were calm are when you can catch your breath before the action starts again. Dystopian themes, action scenes, 80s aesthetic, you get the idea. The cultural details are a big help in adding to the main story, which is just barely there.

Art: The art was a visual treat, and the best part of the entire movie. From the way the characters are drawn, to the colour palettes chosen and even the objects and backgrounds throughout the film, all of it convinced me that this was 80s dystopian Neo-Tokyo and drew me in. Was this smooth, flowing animation even possible in the 80s? Considering the amount of action and variation of characters and scenes, you can see how well they thought about every single detail. No animation smears here (at least with the naked eye).

Sound: Sound follows closely behind the art, as it helps to bring the story to life. Not only is the movie fast, loud and full of suspense, you hear it! The sound effects do not disappoint, because they support the animation loud and clear. Also, since it's an older film, the audio has the a nice, old movie feel to it because of their equipment at the time. The voice actors were great and really brought the characters to life. I didn't pay too much attention to the music (it didn't seem like they had a lot) but the ones I remember matched the movie well - loud, suspenseful, mysterious and really set the tone for the scenes.

Character: This is what disappointed me. In every film I review, I expect character development as well as a takeaway message. Akira does not do this, but it probably wasn't the goal unless I missed something. Stories centered around events usually end up this way, but at the very least I hoped that they could have learned something. Instead, I felt empty at the end. I couldn't relate to the characters or their experiences, so I felt very disconnected from them. I had to ask myself, "why am I watching this again?" The character relationships didn't seem to go very far, either.

Enjoyment: Before I reached the halfway point, my eyes were already overwhelmed. Colourful and fast paced - it really is a visual treat - I just wish I was more prepared. I didn't check how long the film was. So while watching, some scenes seemed to drag on. You know how some films are faster/slower than they seem? Well this movie wasn't just 2 hr 4 min, that's exactly what it felt like.

Overall: Though my expectations for a typical movie were not met, it is still worth a watch. In fact, I now understand that I can enjoy it in a different way. While I didn't enjoy Akira as your typical movie-to-watch-for-entertainment, I now see it shine in terms of cultural and historical relevance. They definitely showed off their best technology in terms of making the film (animation, sound, etc). They also give us a taste of the 80s in terms of style, sound and events. In short, I appreciate Akira as art made for the art.