Akira
1988
Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo
I was dreading writing this post, as I really do not feel like writing a plot synopsis for this. It is an action packed two hours and tells a complicated story with many different characters. My sister just went out to pick up food. I keep hoping she will come in so that I can put this off. And also because I really want pizza.
So basically some kind of psychic detonation caused World War III and destroyed Toyko. A new Toyko is created, but it is plagued by gang violence and terrorism. Tetsuo Shima, a member of the Capsules gang, has psychic powers similar to Akira's, the person who caused all this mess in the first place. A doctor is ordered to kill Tetsuo if he gets too out of control, which I guess is reasonable, as he does get quite out of control.
That didn't even begin to cover it, but it's the best I can do. I usually like anime, but I couldn't get into this one. It was incredibly complicated; I felt like I should have done an hour's worth of reading on the world before I watched this. I felt like I was watching the animated version of A Clockwork Orange, which isn't exactly what I look for in animated movies.
It's still an impressive piece of cinema, but decidedly not for me.
RATING: **---
Interesting Facts:
The movie uses 327 different colors, a record for an animated film.
One of Kanye West's favorite movies. Now I dislike it even more.
You never expected me to like this did you? I'm afraid I have to admit I never really gave it much of a chance, and didn't try all that hard to follow what the heck was going on ..lots of noise, squealing tyres mystic thought beams .. yawn yawn..
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
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