- Akira features some very impressive art design and absolutely amazing animation. In fact, it may be the most striking classical animation I've ever seen. The characters' motions are completely fluid, and the film is saturated with moving perspective shots that must have been incredibly difficult to create. Moreover, post-apocalyptic Tokyo is a real visual treat, and the backgrounds evince an attention to detail that is not present in most animated features. In all of these respects, the film is a great accomplishment. It's too bad that the plot is so awful.
- It may seem unfair that I'm trashing the story without even attempting to summarize it. In fact, I am doing both Akira and myself a favor since my summary would necessarily have revealed that great swaths of the film, particularly near the end, were completely opaque to me. But this cannot be the only problem I had with Akira. After all, I've been baffled by Miyazaki's odd animated stories, yet I find myself charmed by most of his work. I guess my real problem with Akira was that, by the end, I didn't care what happened to anyone. This is of course one of the most damning criticisms a reviewer can issue, but there it is. The characters were rendered beautifully but developed poorly, and ultimately I was just waiting for the pretty picture show to end so I could get on to something more interesting.
- I'll at least mention that the plot seemed to borrow a bit from Scanners and 2001, and I find myself wishing that they had borrowed more.
- The little guys looked a bit like the Guardians of the Universe from Green Lantern. It's a dorky reference, I know.
