Anime and manga classic to hit the big screen
So Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Bros have teamed up to bring a live action version of "Akira" to the big screen, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It's supposed to be a two-parter with the first movie possibly coming out in summer 2009.
I'm sure my friends who are fans of the manga and anime versions will be lining up to see the film.
I won't.
At the time it came out, "Akira" was considered cutting edge with its animation and some of its themes. I saw it and wondered what the big deal was about. I still do. Yeah I know I'm in the minority when I say that.
While I appreciated the attention given to details so the animation flowed smoothly and the action scenes were good, I never liked the character designs much less the plot. Another rebellious teen (this time a biker kid) living in a post nuclear world has to deal with a government experiment on children gone awry. And it was such a letdown to find out who Akira was.
The anime and manga has a lot of fans so a quick search of "Akira" on the Net will bring up all the info you want on said classic.
Before you hurl that tomato at me, I better come clean. I also didn't like "Princess Mononoke" maybe because I saw the horrible version dubbed in English. Then again, I doubt if the plot would make more sense to me if I saw it in the original Japanese with English subtitles.
And "Spirited Away" didn't move me either. I remember sitting through the entire movie out of some misguided belief that if one started something, one has to finish it. It wasn't a bad film by any means. I just couldn't get into it.
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Reporter Ruby Gonzales writes for the Whittier Daily News.
My brothers and I used to watch this movie religiously. Honestly, I was not that critical about the little things back then such as the actual artwork of anime, but maybe because it was done so well that drew me to it. Even though it's been years since I've seen it, I do remember it being a little smarter than most anime, it had a plot and storyline and maybe some things seemed unfinished but I liked that it had kind of a bigger-than-life idea hidden in between the blood-spewing, teenage-girls-chest-flashing scenes. I am anxious to see what they'll do with this live action version, but I can't really say I'm excited enough to see it yet until I see some previews. Cuz who's gonna play the main character, are they adding anything extra. But I'm glad it's drawing new attention to it so maybe they'll have a remastered version of the classic and maybe even some new toys? That would be cool.