3.2 ~ #3

"Akira" (1988)

From Netflix: "Based on the popular anime series, Akira is the story of two childhood friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, who are pulled into the post-apocalyptic underworld of Neo-Tokyo. Kaneda is a bike gang leader, and Tetsuo is a member of a tough motorcycle gang who becomes involved in a covert government project called Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists and corrupt scientists, and a bloody battle ensues."

WOW.

I did NOT want to watch this. I HATE anime, I HATE sci-fi, I HATE apocalyptic type movies. This is ALL of the the above.

I had to watch this movie in two parts, as my electricity went out during my initial attempt. I saw the first forty minutes one night, then the last 90 minutes another afternoon (yep, another one that's over 2 hours long).

Here's some initial notes I took during those first forty minutes:

"dubbed" (I really dislike dubbed movies. I prefer subtitles over dubbing ANY DAY)

"fluid animation, almost like live action" (the animation really is superb, crazy to think this was released in the 80s)

"reminiscent of 'Cool World'" (great movie, if you haven't seen it. And story-wise, this movie is nothing like Cool World. The animation and movement reminded me of it, though)

"horrifyingly bloody"

"we're spoiled by CGI but the work of these animators really should be appreciated" (what can I say? I was REALLY impressed by the animation)

"Anarchy."

"130 minutes long" (<--- I found out while I was watching, and that kinda took my enthusiasm down another notch) "watching movie made me really anxious for seemingly no reason" (it did. I'm glad it got shut off when it did. The suspense of the first half hour was physically affecting me.)

"Hard to follow" (I learned later this was by design)

"female violence and nudity" (only one incidence of this, but it wasn't as graphic as it could have been. I guess I just noted that in case it was a recurring theme)

"kind of a mindfuck" (true.)


These are the notes I took in the last 90 minutes:

"don't find out what Akira is until an hour and 11 minutes in. Don't see it until an hour and a half in" (also true.)

"He's our friend, not yours! If someone if gonna kill him, it should be us!" (<---I just really liked that line)




That's it.


I hardly wrote throughout the last 2/3 of the movie because it actually got interesting enough that I wanted to pay attention. Also if you blinked, you'd miss something important, so it was in my best interest to not distract myself. The first 40 minutes were so hard to follow that I didn't even care enough to try to pay attention, which I guess would have obviously helped me out later on in the film.

At the end of the movie (I'm keeping this entry spoiler free) I had a simultaneous feeling of "Oh Em Gee I GET it!" and "What the HELL did I just see?!"...My husband, who watched the movie with me and is a great fan of the film, says that my reaction is a pretty normal one. I told him that the movie is good enough to GIVE you a feeling when you're done seeing it, but that it seems like the kind of movie that one would enjoy more the second time around. He says that even as a fan, he thinks the movie is too long to rewatch very often. I think I have to agree. Maybe I'll watch it again at some point to see if I was right.

Overall, I'm glad I watched this, though I left overall a bit dazed by it. It's very violent, and pretty confusing, but if you have a couple of hours to spare, it's definitely worth a watch.

-D