Review of Akira

Akira is the pinnacle of an era that was filled by blood, gore, and violence. Certainly one wouldn't watch this film with their family by their side or even have a casual outing with friends viewing this film in a theater. I'd argue, though, that one shouldn't view this film with loved ones not because of its graphic nature and rough artwork. One shouldn't view this film with loved ones because it is not kind to waste people's time. Akira is definitely not overrated, not in the general sense of the term, anyway. It's a troubled piece of art that garners all the popularity it deservesand the controversy it merits is symbolic of its era, catapulting it to the forefront as one of the "best" cyberpunk films ever, even somewhat inventive of the genre and most certainly inspiring. But it does fall short on technical storytelling, so much so that I can't look at the movie in almost any positive facet.

*Some spoilers ahead*

Story: 3
The premise isn't in any way boring. It is important to remember historical context when reviewing films and given the films and shows of its time period, Akira was innovative with sociopolitical commentary while weaving an interesting story into it. What's unfortunate, though, is that the audience doesn't come to care for the story at all going into the film. Who the hell is Ryu? Who are the granny children? Yes, I know that movies are supposed to show and not tell, but I feel quite blind going through the story without a guideline of the limits of their power and exposition. It makes everything being displayed on the screen feel illegitimate, almost un-genuine, and I find myself laughing AT the film trying to kill off characters that I, frankly, could care less about. This isn't a rant about the characters, though, but it is a criticism of how the movie utilizes its characters and it's piss-poor. The plot is interesting and definitely has creative and artistic direction but it is hard to be invested in the story when the first half of the film go by as nonsensically as possible and the second half is just the film doing graphic things to underdeveloped nonsensical things in the first half.

Art: 7
Yes, the art is dull and bland but it is just charming in an inexplicable way. Maybe the way the dark, one noted color palate fit in with the dystopian, technological city. Maybe it's the way how the art-style and animation justifies its position as the poster boy of 80's dark anime. It's something that I can't place my finger on, but that makes it feel all the better. The only downside unfortunately is that by the end of the two-hour duration of the film, seeing the same colors and boring character designs get uninteresting and loses the charm. Still though, if someone were to ask me, "what's the first thing you think of when it comes to cyberpunk dystopian settings?", I respond "Neo-Tokyo".

Sound: 6
Akira sounds dark at times and definitely experiments with its sound. Some of it falls on deaf ears but I think the majority of the soundtrack sounds fine. Sound design? Forgettable, but most films have forgettable sound design in my opinion.

Character: 1
If I got a prompt asking me "what character do you care for?", I'd automatically know my answer. None of them. It's not that simple, though. Other than Tetsuo, we are left to guess the motivations of the other characters. Sadly, we've only seen the other characters for a grand total of 30 minutes and each scene is poorly put together in hopes the fans will make an hour long video of "analysis" as to "what does this scene mean!". In my opinion, if I can't understand a film after thinking about it for a prolonged amount of time (unless the film is a direct continuation such as EoE following NGE) and must read up on the "lore" and watch analysis videos, it just sucks. I know these things are supposed to be subtle but I literally was laughing as that one doctor character overdosed in a alleyway. Who is this guy? But the real violation of the film's integrity is the usage of Kei to save Kaneda from being sucked into Tetsuo's universe-thing or whatever. Kei, the girl who just screamed for Ryu half the movie and got harassed the other half saves one of the major characters and even is implied to like him after like, 25 minutes of screen-time with him, none of it even substantial? Please, save me the semantics, there is no symbolism and there is no excuse, the characters are underdeveloped, unmotivated as far as we know, but there are so many of them that the movie tries to actually hop perspectives. I'd prefer to watch Tetsuo. the character that I know their conflict and motivation rather than goddamn Ryu, thank you very much. Is Tetsuo complex and interesting? Yes, but a single character cannot save this category or even uplift it by a SINGLE point.

Enjoyment: 4
Interestingly, the film has an atmosphere that fits very well and enhances the overall viewing experience tenfold. Still, though, the aforementioned issues aren't just issues after being seen under a microscope, they are abundantly clear on the first watch and every watch after.

Overall, Akira almost, in an ironic way deserves its praise because it really does fit all the good, positive things I've heard about it. Beautiful, dark setting? Check. Controversial but not just for shock value? In my opinion, check. Has a message that accompanies sociopolitical commentary and observations of the government? Check.
But the whole is greater, or in this case, worse than the sum of its parts. A nonsensical story with characters that I don't know, don't care for, and don't like is not worthy of my adoration. Fluid animation that innovated the industry, sure, but nothing excuses the mess that is its story.

If I haven't made it clear, I respect the film for the strides it has taken and would never argue with an Akira fan of its influence and ability to age even into todays world of animation. But the issues it has are way too huge for me to personally treasure it or even give it a half-decent score. Akira, a 2/10 for me.