AKIRA (1988) (***)

This film has long been considered the best anime film of all-time. That's not really saying too much about anime. For those out of the loop, anime is pretty much the all-encompassing term for Japanese animation, mostly intended for adults, which this film would fall under.

The plot follows Kaneda, a young member of a biker gang, as he tries to survive in Neo-Tokyo (Tokyo was destroyed in 1988). Essentially, the plot centers on a government project to elicit the complete potential of humans by experimenting with telekinetic children. Tetsuo, a member of Kaneda's biker gang, is very enraged by his constantly bullied status in and out of the gang. After he comes in contact with one of the telekinetics, he gains untapped power, which soon reaches a point he cannot control.

I liked the idea of humans tapping into the potential of mind where we can control matter because we are all made of energy. However, the story that the film constructs around that idea is convoluted and pretty thin. The film at times seemed no different than a Godzilla flick. However, the action and the amazing animation kept me interested the whole way through. The plot does unfold the information in a way that keeps you wanting more, however there are so many subplots with the government and the military that one can easily get confused. Plus I'm not sure who's supposed to be the main character. Kaneda is a dorky leader and seems more interested in getting the pretty revolutionary girl, Kei, than saving his friend or finding out what all the mystery is about. He seems pretty shallow to be a grand hero worth being saved.

At its core it has a great idea and the visual originality is astonishing, but outside of its grand message at the end it's a pretty thin story. But with an interesting central theme, I'm now even more curious what the planned live-action version will be like.