Screened at Regal in 4K • 2nd Viewing
Whether oversized, cute teddy bears, bunnies, and cars are inking out milk in a contradictingly agitating manner or whether bodies are inflating into stadium-like sizes of muscular, volatile flesh, there’s evidently a peculiar surrealist element to Akira. The world’s population has driven themselves into confusion after a spontaneous nuclear blast destroys Tokyo. Terrorism reigns supreme during the aftermath response (World War III) and now at the forefront we have an egomaniacal adult being engrained in nuclear power during an era where human technology has reached a point in which big bangs can now be artificially erected. It all just seems like one nauseating, drug-tipped dream, something uncontrollably fictional but indefinitely seamed up and stimulated from the memories of a past that indeed occurred. The Atom Bomb has done wonders to our imagination and maybe even more crucially… to our modern ethics philosophy.
If they ever do make a live-action Akira movie, by golly, I pray that they find a path to improving on some of the lost potential that this animated cult phenomena rides on. By expanding on the intricacies and themes of the armageddon-like story and characters with, of course, the right master at head, there could be room to inspire a genuine masterpiece. In this climate though, it’s unlikely, hmm?
Verdict: B
“Akira” in 4K is now playing in select theaters.
Burning the Celluloid 
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