From Anime News Network:
Now that that's out of the way, this is almost exactly what I thought it was going to be -- i.e., not Akira. Oh, it's a dumb, 90-minute, mediocre-budgeted, dumbed-down American movie interpretation of Akira, but it's not Akira. No sense of disenfranchised youth or rebellion against an oppressive, patro-fascist society? Not Akira. No genuine conflict between Tetsuo and Kaneda? Not Akira. No Japan? Not Akira (I do believe some works of art are fundamentally tied to times and places; I don't think you could make a modern Japanese version of Easy Rider and have it mean the same thing, and I don't think you can make Akira outside of '80s Japan [which does mean yes, I think a modern Japanese remake of Akira would also be diluted, but anyways]).
But god help me, what's bothering me most at the minute are the names. Really? They're going to transfer the story to New York City and have Garret Hedlund play a dude named Kaneda? That is absurd, and the perfect example of the short-sightedness guiding the American Akira. I hope to god these are just placeholder names, and they're still figuring them out. But I sincerely doubt it. There's going to be a scene where Kristen Stewart calls Garret Hedlund "Kaneda" and our brains are going to all leak out our ears.
Acting Auditions, an employment resource for actors, posted a plot description for the live-action film adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira manga on Tuesday. The short description was sent out as part of a casting call for extras and stand-ins in the film....and here is that plot synopsis.
Kaneda is a bar owner in Neo-Manhattan who is stunned when his brother, Tetsuo, is abducted by government agents led by The Colonel.
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Desperate to get his brother back, Kaneda agrees to join with Ky Reed and her underground movement who are intent on revealing to the world what truly happened to New York City thirty years ago when it was destroyed. Kaneda believes their theories to be ludicrous but after finding his brother again, is shocked when he displays telekinetic powers.
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Ky believes Tetsuo is headed to release a young boy, Akira, who has taken control of Tetsuo's mind. Kaneda clashes with The Colonel's troops on his way to stop Tetsuo from releasing Akira but arrives too late. Akira soon emerges from his prison courtesy of Tetsuo as Kaneda races in to save his brother before Akira once again destroys Manhattan island, as he did thirty years ago.
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Now that that's out of the way, this is almost exactly what I thought it was going to be -- i.e., not Akira. Oh, it's a dumb, 90-minute, mediocre-budgeted, dumbed-down American movie interpretation of Akira, but it's not Akira. No sense of disenfranchised youth or rebellion against an oppressive, patro-fascist society? Not Akira. No genuine conflict between Tetsuo and Kaneda? Not Akira. No Japan? Not Akira (I do believe some works of art are fundamentally tied to times and places; I don't think you could make a modern Japanese version of Easy Rider and have it mean the same thing, and I don't think you can make Akira outside of '80s Japan [which does mean yes, I think a modern Japanese remake of Akira would also be diluted, but anyways]).
But god help me, what's bothering me most at the minute are the names. Really? They're going to transfer the story to New York City and have Garret Hedlund play a dude named Kaneda? That is absurd, and the perfect example of the short-sightedness guiding the American Akira. I hope to god these are just placeholder names, and they're still figuring them out. But I sincerely doubt it. There's going to be a scene where Kristen Stewart calls Garret Hedlund "Kaneda" and our brains are going to all leak out our ears.
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178 comments
Asides from being set in Manhatten, that sounds almost exactly like the anime movie. What's the big deal? *scratches head*
A lot. A lot of big deals. Rob already listed them up there.
The plot of Akira was so much more than "Psychic, psychic, psychic, bendy spoon, psychic, psychic, psychic." If you want that, then go play "F.E.A.R".
Please make another post closer to the movie date and tell us ALL not to watch it. Remind us until it's engraved in our minds that if we DO see it we are total losers. Smash it into us again and again "DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE."
And anyone who reads this, if you watch the live-action Akira remake, YOU ARE A LOSER.
i wouldn't call them losers.
misinformedmasochistsabout to be disappointedthe soon to be eye gougers
there's lots of other ways to classify those who subject themselves to this.
To be fair, you can't say that this synopsis proves that things (like the rebellion, and Kaneda and Tetsuo's conflict) are lacking from the movie. These kinds of synopses are meant to give a VERY brief overview of the movie, not an in-depth plot analysis. That said, yes this will most likely be awful, but the absolute worst thing about it is that the female lead is name Ky Reed. Really? That's where you decided to start anglicizing names? Really?
Those of you that think the original Akira was terrible, or that select volumes of the manga didn't make it to the Anime, have to remember that Otomo was forced to make Akira (Anime) before he finished the Manga. Otomo is well documented in saying that even HE was disappointed with the ending of the Anime but he had no choice as the manga wasn't finished.
It still doesn't defend Hollywood's treatment of the anime/manga, in any way shape or form though. Hollywood is gonna fuck this up, and the world will still be disenchanted at the wonderful media that is anime and manga...
There's only one thing left to do: have Japan retaliate by making the Muppets into a Magical Girls anime.
Wow. I love the taste of warmed over dog shit. Really Hollywood. Love it sooo much. This makes the release of Green Lantern seem like a work of fucking Shakespeare. I think i gonna go watch the original now and cry at the loss of something special.
what a lot of people are ignoring is the fact this takes place in a future New New York. If it helps, there could be hope they get Darren Aronofsky to direct this since he's been able to turn crap into gold.
No. Just, no. Not even Aronofsky's mad skills could help obliterate the high-piling shittiness of this towering skyscraper of shit.
Unless if they gave him total creative control. And shot anyone who interfered right in the head. With a magnum.
With all due respect people have gotta make up their minds on some of this stuff. When the first bits of news leaked about this movie everyone freaked because they were sure they would change the characters names. Now it seems confirmed the names haven't changed, and everyone's pissed off? Plus let's just all admit we're going to go see this. I won't be able to resist and I don't think there's a person here that cares enough to comment about it but won't at least check it out on Netflix or Red Box eventually.
You wanna damn your soul, you go right the hell on do it yourself. I have resisted the evil that is "The Legend of Chun Li" and "Dark of the Moon" up until this day, and am doing just fine, thank you very much.
Hell no to all of that. If I wanted to have all the soul stripped out of me I'd go work at a bank. That way at least they would pay me rather than the other way around.
Having read the manga, I'm not really sure what everyone's getting all bent out of shape over. I read the manga before seeing the movie and thought it was good but severely over rated, and kinda bastardized the original, but meh. I'll pay to see this.
Clearly Hollywood was thinking of you and your kind when they were making this watered down, crappy, stupid as fuck excuse of an adaptation that doesn't even try to hide its unintelligent derpy face.
It's funny how Hollywood continuously displays such sheer contempt to the very same people it's trying to attract.
Changes from the manga:- They've moved it to New New Yo--, er, Neo Manhattan,- No mention of the iconic motorcycles?- Kaneda owns a bar? Um, he's not a high schooler any more?- Kaneda and Tetsuo are brothers, WTF?!?!- Tetsuo gets kidnapped by the Colonel... okay, that happens, but because of the runaway psychics. Have they been cut?- Ky and co. somehow know about what's going on?- The Colonel "takes control of [Tetsuo's] mind"? Make that "lost control" and you've got what happens...
I mean... it could be WAY worse, but still. Many of these are /unnecessary/ changes.
About the only potentially positive thing I see in this is that they're going to go with the "city gets destroy again" bit that means they might be adapting Vol 3-5 that never made it into the movie. But that will only work if they make two movies; if they try to cram it all into one, it'll be an even bigger mess.
A bunch of white kids with Japanese names in NYC? Is there anyone looking forward to this other than the RiffTrax crew?
I honestly don't understand the studio's logic here. Akira is highly beloved by its fans. A movie adaptation that is an adaptation in name only is a slap in the face not just to the original manga and anime but also to all fans of Akira. (I say this as someone who has yet to read or watch Akira.)
I hate how Hollywood thinks it can slap a well-known name on a movie, as if that is the only thing that matters. Sadly, the movie-going public will probably prove the studio right.
If you want to understand their logic, you'll have to do a truckload of cocaine first. Then, everything would be crystal (meth) clear.
Does this mean that I can definitely expect a Death Note movie with Bat-Light Yagami-man quitting being a sociopath and going to law school, an Evangelion movie where Shinji is a not socially retarded and the US army fights the Angels-er I mean Aliens that are code named H.A.L.O. as to not offend the religious audiences, a M. Night Shamalayn's Mobile Suit Gundam where you get the love triangle of Channing Tatum playing Char Aznable and Michael Cera as Amuro and Kristen Bell as Lalah (her blank stare and expressionless face/voice might actually-no dear god I will not type that approval) truncated into the movie 5 minutes before Amuro kills her. How about a Ranma 1/2 sorry I mean Randall 1/2 where you've got Justin Bieber playing both boy and girl Ranma depending on how long his hair grows. What about a Robotech movie with Rick Hunter being played by Toby Maguire-oh wait...
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Buh... her name is Kei. That is already an English name. KAY. How does anyone manage to screw that up?(Answer: A spectacular display of incompetence, that's how.)
You would think with the amount of fan-hatred aimed at the movie studio, they'd think... HANG ON A TICK!!! This doesn't look good, but no, they are carrying on like nothings happening...
Ya gotta wonder at what point during the movie Snake Plissken will show up, call them pansies, and proceed to beat the crap out of the nancy emo boys they'll no doubt cast. I'd rather watch that movie than this.
the first victim of this tragedy (outside of the manga/anime) is my keyboard which i just sprayed with vomit after reading that nasty bologna they called a plot description. what a heinously sacrilegious pile of re-purposed dog farts.
I'm the world's most lukewarm anime fan, and I only really like old school stuff a la Speed Racer or Star Blazers--but I loved Akira to death...and this sounds like a 2 hour root canal without the benefit of nitrous.
I've heard fans bitch about the film version of Watchmen (which I loved), but AT LEAST they had the sense to keep it in the 1980s! :-/
If anything, Scoot, this proves my theory on how Hollywood works with adaptations. Here's the breakdown:
Western property: Good GOD! Treat it with as much care as possible, man!
Foreign property: Eh. One or two hits and misses are fine. Nobody's seen the original anyway, but do try to exercise caution when you can, alright?
Japanese property: FUCK THE JAPS!! FUCK 'EM ALL!! THEY HAVE STUPID DIFFICULT NAMES ANYWAY!! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR PEARL HARBOR!!!! AAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAAAAA!!!
You know, just a thought. >:3
