Apr 29, 20214 min read

Akira: The Threats of Progress

Updated: Jan 30, 2023

Reviews by:

@the_owlseyes

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Japanese cinema is a manifold lanscape and it's always a delight to delve into it. You can find everything you want and everything you thought you didn't look for. It's a culture so polarising and intriguing, that's hard to ignore. The japanese cinematography ranges from the gentle and tender style of Miyazaki's animation to the gritty realism of Akira Kurosawa, from the superb escapism of Dragon Ball to the grey ethics and morals of Death Note. There's always a certain wisdom and message in what this country produces. There's a movie which has acquired a prestigious spot in pop culture, by defining a generation and kicking off a substantial interest from the world toward japanese media. Akira.

PLOT

"A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by two teenagers and a group of psychics" or "A guy gets powers and becomes the villain".

SCRIPT

At first sight it seems just another cyberpunk movie like Blade Runner but it's more than that. As Blade Runner, it isn't interested in technology as a tool but technology as a character and how it changes the whole society. It makes a strong and direct social commentary toward politcs, economy, religion and progress, the aspects which are mutated by human advancement. The opposition between religion and science, the poor's misery opposed to the rich's careless lifestyle, the improper use of scientific mind for military purposes and the dangers of an hybrid society, made of a vile combination of human and synthetic organs. Them, anyway, are what get you hooked. What keep you watching is how it approaches the human perspective. The main characters are victims of their environment, one of them is pushed to the limit, losing his humanity. It's a criticism of power and its corruptive nature. It's a stricture of knowledge and its blinding effects. It's a write-up of violence and its consequences. It's about us.

The characters are nothing more than proxies, installed here to make us feel something, to make us understand where we're going. The villain gets a tragic and sympathetic arch, the protagonist doesn't get something like it, which could be a bit unsettling. The script us about the protagonist and the villain, two opposed forces which clashes. Maybe it isn't a good script, because it delas with too many characters and it's only able to define the main ones, but it makes some very good points. I think that, after all the Mayhem which will occurr on you screen, who's watched it will start to ask himself the right questions about our situation and our fate.

Script: 8/10

ACTING

It's standard voice acting. Nothing special about it. It's mediocre at best. It's harder to value this section for an animated movie but it's also kinda hard to fail at it. Obviously not all the characters get an optimal dubbing but it's ok, in the end it doesn't hurt the movie as much.

Acting: 6/10

PHOTOGRAPHY

A lot of scenes are memorable cause of it. There's a lot of style and imagination here. The city, with its cyberpunk vibes, the bikes, the gore, the great use of lights and shadows, the colors,....most of the movie is iconic. The design still holds today and there's a maniacal attention to details. A lot of people think that hand drawn animation isn't impactful as computer animation but classic animation has a warmth and depth which is hard to reproduce with a cgi model. This opera push the limits of what you could do with a pencil, to the point that it's unrepeatable. It's a work of art.

Photography: 8/10

EDITING

There're some nice shots of the city from above but some transitions fracture the movie's flow. Overall it's acceptable but it doesn't take a lot of risks. I liked how they represented the bikes speed with a tailing light and the shots from different perspective of the city and its meanders.

Editing: 6/10

SPECIAL EFFECTS

The animation is outstanding. As I said before, it's imaginative and it doesn't flinch when it has to be violent, gory and sexually loaded. The technology, from the bikes to the lab's equipment is designed meticulously. There'are also scene where the character psychological vulnerability is represented in such a fanciful way. Obviously it isn't always smooth and fluid but it's still strong after almost fifthy years since its debut.

Special Effects: 8/10

SOUNDTRACK

It's good but it isn't memorable. Sure, it achieves to give a cyberpunk tone to the motion picture but most of the time is just there. Sometimes, like in the first minutes when it uses a mix of music and panting noises, it's original and other, like in the end when it goes all in with loud voices to enhance the scenes drama, it's over the top. It's noticable also the fact that the composer has been inspired by ecclesiastical music.

I don't see a strict link between the story and its music, I hoped there was because a lot could've been done with a movie like that. Yes, they used music to represent Tetsuo's mind activity but it didn't affect the plot, so it isn't enough to say that it'll stick with you. It's original but it doesn't want to take the risk to seems refreshing.

Soundtrack: 6/10

COSTUMES

Kaneda and Tetsuo's outfits are iconic but I don't consider them special. It's the usual cyberpunk wardrobe on display here. What makes the costumes memorable are the characters not the clothes itself. I expected more because usually the japanese have a lot of creativity for the character's appearance.

Costumes: 5/10

CONCLUSION

Script: 8/10

Acting: 6/10

Photography: 8/10

Editing: 6/10

Special Effects: 8/10

Soundtrack: 6/10

Costumes: 5/10

AVERAGE: 6,71

It's a good looking movie with fanciful imagery and strong messages. It lacks a bit of originality in some aspects but overall it's a beautiful experience. This movie has been so influential and endearing after its release that a lot of movies and series referenced it, without any kind of introduction. To see that you could watch Ready Play One and enjoy Kameda's bike again or find it in Teen Titans, Ghost in the Shell and Rick and Morty. It's a classic you should absolutely watch.

By @the_owlseyes

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