This movie was alright. I wouldn't say great. *Spoilers*
To me a good movie is one that leaves you feeling a bit satisfied. The ending to me was just completely stupid.
The visuals were great, and you can see the entire movie was a landmark in terms of visual animation on Japans part, but a couple of things bothered me personally that I couldn't seem to get over.
# 1.) Is there really wasn't any admirable characters in the entire movie. Usually some movies that are pretty epic, have a great character. The closest I guess you could some to someone half-way likeable was Kaneda, but even then he was a bit on the obnoxious / annoying side.
TOO MUCH DETAIL. First off when it comes to traditional or regular anime, the entire time I felt everyones face resembled muppets. I couldn't get over the fact at how rediculous everyone looked when they talked, aside from the general and a few other characters. The faces on some of the characters, even the old men in the executive room seemed to have way too much detail. Lines, wrinkles in their face.
It just didn't feel it was done in the "Anime" style. It really seemed like a futuristic, highly animated "Simpsons." - Yes, Kanedas face moved like a muppet when he talked. Let's not forget Tokyo. Most anime seems to give a good feel when they draw backgrounds and other things, but it just seems the producers went overboard with trying to be as detailed as possible.
DISTURBING / Grotesque
Not really sure where I want to go with this one. From a guy getting shot in the face and blood spurting everywhere, to Tetsuo's disfigured morbid arm, to him squishing his girlfriend and "Absorbing" her into his body? These were disturbing and uneccesary in my opinion. It adds a horror element to the movie that was unexpected; was it good or bad? It certainly left it's mark on my psyche for a while, and if that was the point of the author and creators, applauded. However, in terms of "Great anime" the story didn't settle well with me in the long run.
I notice as well many people were disturbed by this scene of Tetsuo turning into a giant blob. As disturbing as it is to some, this to me puts the movie into a horror category, not necessarily an epic. It adds to the novelty of a cyber, future, horror flick, but in terms of moral analyzation or nobility, not much can be derived from the inclusion of some of these scenes, other than shock value.
To me, a good story gives you a character who may have strengths and weaknesses, and is able to fight past and overcomes its obstacles, in the end leaving one satisfied. I guess not being a ral fan of steampunk or futuristic motorcycles, one could say I was a bit biased. On the contrare I know there were some elements of struggle between the protaganist as he and (The girl) fight their way through government agents to track down tetsuo. However, overall there isn't really much emotion felt between any of the characters, a lot of them seem to have a chip on their shoulder and not much feeling underneath all of their "Swag."
Ending Sucked. It really was a mind *beep*. My general consensus was a "One-with-the-force." type of deal, the main antagonist merging with Akira and blowing up into a universal black-hole big-bang. While interesting, I wasn't expecting a science lesson at the end. Other then an implied Tetsuo turning into God? (That was my understanding).
In the end this wasn't an epic, or a quest, or a mission; rather then a psychologial shocker bent on shocking the veiwer into a disturbed state of mind; Elements of catastrophe, madness and morbid violence are enough to leave the viewer questioning what he just watched. Do I walk away from this movie feeling I've seen one of the greatst animes ever? By far, not at all.
None of the characters were very likeable, they were rather dull and did not embody any redeeming qualities; but the show and tell was fully detailed and enriched enough to put you in another world. Had this story been told without the merging of several networks for powerful detailed animation; and taken the traditional simplistic magna route, I doubt the movie would gain as much notriety as it has today.
Being that this is a cult movie, I can only liken it to a "Heavy metal" of sorts, something that was passed around simply because it was a shockingly well animated, adult-orientated film, something rare 20 years ago. The story did not leave with any satisfied sense of morality or good judgement or philosophical leanings other then, "If this ever happened, that would be f-u-c-k-e-d up."
In closing, to simply put it, Good animation and good visuals, but the characters and story were so-so and themes explored drawn out, with shocker elements that leave you feeling disturbed at the end.