Akira 1988 Film Review

There are so few films that people can say helped to redefine a medium and make it be fresh and new to the eyes of many across the globe. Yet this is exactly what the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today did as it helped to prove that no only anime but animation in generally can be seen as something other then things for kids to watch and heck it even helped to inspire one of the most popular action franchises of the modern era in The Matrix franchise and so then join me as I review the film that takes place in the far flung future of 2019 with the film in question being called simply just "Akira" enjoy.

The plot of this film is when his friend to a secret base it's up to Kaneda and Kei a resistance fighter to try and get him back before things turn deadly. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with it being made painfully obvious right away that this films plot was going to alot more mature then what you really think that it would with this being something that does help to make the film feel alot more mature then it really had any right to be as the film does talk about having corrupt officials in charge of governments and how that can effect the city and the film does talk people will do anything to keep the peace even if it means causing more riots in the process with those things being things that wouldn't be talked about in a kids film and yet here they not only feel right at home but they also add to the world building and plot of the film as well with this films plot being one that whilst yes it could be viewed as being rather simplistic in it's approach but it's that very simplicity that makes the plot of the film work so well and stand out so much more then what it really had any right to as by all rights this films plot should have been trash and yet because of the fact that the creator of the Akira manga was working on this film it turned to be so much more better because of the fact that it had someone working on it who loved the plot and who loved the characters with the plot of this film being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this film is Johnny Yong Bosch as Shōtarō Kaneda , Joshua Seth as Tetsuo Shima and Wendee Lee as Kei. Also starring in this film is Jamieson Price as Colonel Shikishima , Bob Buchholz as Ryūsaku , Simon Prescott as Doctor Ōnishi , Cody MacKenzie as Takashi , Sandy Fox as Kiyoko , Travis Weaver as Masaru , Michelle Ruff as Kaori , Michael Lindsay as Yamagata , Anthony Pulcini as Kai , Mike Reynolds as Nezu , Michael Forest as Colonel's Council Liaison and Robert Axelrod as Shimazaki.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the acting in this film being so much more better then what it really had any right to be as dubs in anime when there done badly they can be really bad and because of that as the more bad dubs are the ones that people in the mainstream audience know about more it was still shocking to see some really good acting in this film as you can tell right away that all of this films actors really are so well cast in this film with each character being cast with the pitch perfect actor playing them with this being something that does make it easier to buy into this films acting with the best actor in this film oddly enough not being Johnny Yong Bosch who is still fantastic in this film but rather it's Joshua Seth as his character is the one that gets all of the major dramatic scenes in the film and he does pull them off really well with the film effectively hanging on his performance and while Tetsuo would have been very easy to make annoying at the start of the film here just due to how well he's acted none of that happens as he does come across as being a normal teenager in this film albeit one that is very easy to please others and while Jonny Yong Bosch isn't the films best actor he is phenomenal in this film as well with the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them actually which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.  

Doing the animation for this film is the legends and the greats that are currently over at Tokyo Movie Shinsha. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good with this films animation being jaw droppingly good as you can tell right away this film had a high budget to it as every single frame of animation just looks drop dead gorgeous with the best way to describe this films animation is that it looks like a piece of art as every part of this film is just stunning to look at from the background designs to the character designs all looking really good with the film being filled to the brim with lots of little details in it's animation that you not only can only find in anime but also look really good as it is something that does show you that the makers of this film really did go the extra mile in creating something that holds up really even when compared to the films that came just this past year alone with all of the characters even having these really nice fluid movements to them which is something that does make the films action scenes come to life and infact it could be argued that the films animation really makes what are some really good looking action scenes in their own right be all the more better as it's during those scenes where the films animation really does come alive with all of the punches and kicks really leaping of the screen with it being really hard to pick just one stand out scene that best represents just how good that this films animation is as that's just how good the animation that's in this film really is in it's own right.

The best word to describe this film as a whole is iconic as that's exactly what it is it's iconic with there being alot of truly iconic moments in this film. Be it the awsome bike skin that Kaneda does to even the fact that Tetsuo dies in a pretty gruesome and borderline gory way there are lots of moments in this film that have been referenced in various other forms of media as that's how iconic that they are in the first place with the thing that makes these moments truly standout and be these iconic moments isn't just the fact that they happen in the first place rather it's the fact that the makers of this film actually take the time to let us get to know and care for these characters and therefor when Kaneda does his iconic bike slide yes it's at the start of the film but we are still shown that he does care for Tetsuo and therefor when he does the slide we cheer for him because of the fact that the makers of the film took the time to show us a brief snippet of his bond with Tetsuo and yet when Tetsuo dies at the end of the film we feel sorry for both characters we've had the time to really get to know them as characters ad while yes Tetsuo does do alot of truly evil things in the films third act it doesn't change the fact that the film did also spend alot of time in giving us reasons to like him thus making his fall to the dark side alot more tragic and this is something that filmmakers today refuse to do as they try to give us these moments that they think will be epic and yet because oof the fact that we've not been given the chance to care for those characters that don't work the avengers assemble scene in Avengers: Endgame works because of the fact that we've spent over ten years with those characters and isn't something that would have worked if it was in the first Avengers movie.

Believe it or not when Warner Bros Pictures wanted to make this film into a live action film they thought that they could make it with a PG-13 rating. Which is just so ridiculous as if you've seen one single frame of this film you'd know full well that it would be impossible to make this film that rating as so much about what makes the film work so well in the first places comes from the mature themes and scenes that are in the film which would have to be either cut down to the point where they might as well as not even be there in the first place or be cut out of the film entirely which would completely change the look and feel of the film yes there are some things that you could remove and not have the plot of the film be effected like the guy shooting the dogs at the start of the film for example but you can't cut out him then being gunned down by several police officers as that effects the plot as with that then the kid wouldn't run into Tetsuo and set in motion the events of the film but to there credit tho they did also at one point have a writer called Gary Whitta who along with director Ruairí Robinson had originally envisioned the film to be a two part film with part one covering volumes one through three of the manga and part two covering volumes four through six which is realistically the only way that you could do this story in a live action film as there is so much story there to cover in the first place that you need another film just to do the story justice but either way they've now lost the rights to make the film so hopefully it will get made with a studio that actually really knows that it is there doing in the first place.

To be fair for as much as this film gets alot of things right it really does get quite alot of things wrong as well. Like the fact that the relationship between Kaneda and Kei isn't that well thought out with it not being made that clear if there friends or not with this being something that does slightly effect Kaneda as a character as he is shown to be a bit of a womanizer something which Kei does call him out on but he's also shown to be caring for his friends with him showing that he does care for Kei as well with the other thing that this film gets wrong is the fact that certain lines from the side characters like the three kids for example are delivered a bit two quickly for them to have any lasting impact where as if there actors just took there time in delivering their lines it would have made them have more of an impact and while nether is a major issue they are things that could have been fixed and yet they weren't for some reason and given the fact that Kaneda and Kei working together to rescue Tetsuo is a plot point it would have been nice for there relationship to be made a bit more clear as while there clearly not going out they very well could have bee friends and yet it's not really said if there friends or not as for the first delivery on certain lines this is something that should have bee fixed by the team that was making this dub as the actors were already working with finished animation so they can't do all that much about that but the people who put this dub together could have slowed certain scenes down a bit just to make those more faster delivered lines sound a bit more natural and alot less like there trying to the end of scene quickly.

Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly two hours hours and four minuets and fifty two seconds. Which to be fair to this film is pretty solid running time for the film and given the fact that the film does have alot of story to ever from the manga it does make sense that the film was thins long but at the same time time tho for an anime film this is bit on the longer side of things with it being helped by the fact that this film really does have alot of plot there to cover that amount of running time and yet the film doesn't use it's running time all that wisely as the film does spent alot of time in setting up the plot which fair enough it does have the time there to do that but in saying this tho alot of those early set up scenes don't add anything to the plot of the film with them feeling more like filler scenes with even the ending of the film feeling like it's dragging on with this even taking away from the films character development as while characters like Tetsuo and Kaneda get some character development the same thing cannot be said for Kei and the rest of her friends either as all of them do come across as being one dimensional characters with us not even getting the chance to find out anything that's relevant to the plot of the film about Kei now granted this could be different in the manga but interms of this film it does make her come across as being more as an afterthought rather then the main character that the film wants us to think that she is as the film is more focused on giving both Kaneda and Tetsuo character development then it is in giving Kei character development which is something that does make sense as they are meant to be more bigger characters interms of the plot but it still would have have been nice if she got some character development as well but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action film that really des mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With this film being so gory and so action packed that the film could seriously be counted as being an actin horror film as the film does have plenty of action packed moments in it all of which are made all the more better due to how well the films animation is as the animation does make all of this films action scenes seem all the more impactful and all the more awsome then it already is in the first place with the best action scene in the whole film being the scene where Tetsuo goes to the stadium after causing havoc all other town with things blowing up all around him with him even refusing the help of Kaneda and even throwing him against a brick wall all of which are things that do look really good with the film even having alot of really good action scenes in it like for example Tetsuo's escape from the building he's kept basically prisoner in being another good example of just how gory that this film can be as you get to see limbs flying everywhere and lots of blood with the only sort of bad action scene being the end near the end not that it's bad by any means it's just that it does go on a bit to long when the film really should have been wrapping up at that point in time but on the whole the film really does have alot of really good action scenes in it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it is very easy to see why alot people consider this film to not only be a must watch for anime fans but also a masterpiece of the medium as a whole as it really is just that good of a film but at the same time tho it is one tat does have alot of flaws is albeit ones that are very minor at best in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all pf the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 9 out 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally sued in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images really from this very film being the really great Google Images this is really because of the fact that really all of the images that I really indeed got and really used from Google Images are all really high quality really with all of the images that really are all and of course really currently up and on the really great and the really solid Google Images really are all being really fairly high in quality and as well as them all really being fairly high in definition.