|
Connect with Facebook
|
By Collin, on July 20th, 2011
News came out that the project was being shut down. Apparently, that was bullshit. I think the movie was more being put on “pause” so it can be reevaluated. Regardless, I’ve been inspired to write the following article.
For the uninitiated Akira is probably the best graphical novel (or manga if you wanna’ be a dick about it) ever made. It has been worshiped for almost three decades now and stands as one of the pillars of the cyberpunk genre.
What is cyberpunk? Well, it is a part of Japanese culture that branched out across popular entertainment that fuses a variety genres, ideas, rebellions, and archetypes. To describe it in one sentence I’d probably say: A genre that has rebellious low-lifes trying to bring down a corporation or entity with the use of technology and sometimes special gifts or biological mods. Maybe that is a bad definition, lol, but it is complicated. Think Neuromancer, Deus Ex (video game), Ghost in Shell, The Matrix, or Blade Runner for near perfect examples.
Moreover, if you were to ask me what my favorite cyberpunk work is it would be without question the manga Akira . The cartoon is fantastic and always entertaining to watch, but it was too hard to pack hundreds/thousands of pages into a couple hours. Also, the depth of Akira is so deep and fulfilling that it puts into question whether or not a movie could ever be made about it. There are just too many hurtles.
The story of Akira is a great one. Created by Katsuhiro Otomo the story explores two best friends, Kaneda and Tetsuo, who are part of a motorcycle gang during the fallout from a nuclear explosion during Wold War 3 — Tokyo was completely destroyed. Moreover, Tetsuo is recruited into a government project that mentors humans with immense psychic powers. To say the least, shit hits the fan and Tetsuo loses his mind when his powers begin to take him over.
That is just scratching the surface of the story. But why am I writing all this? Because I’m curious why the “live-action” movie can’t get made. I’m not an expert of Akira, but I know quite a bit and am listing five things to consider when making the movie. Because, like Robotech, I haven’t figured out why the movie can’t get made about such great source material
1. The story is very “Japanese”.
I don’t know exactly what that means and it isn’t meant to be offensive of alienistic, but when you look at something like the movie Die Hard, that movie is really American. Like, John McClane is an all-American ass-whooper. In the same way, Akira is very Japanese. The story is rolled up in post-war rebellion and hysteria. There is a sense that the whole manga is woven into ideas that are inherently pulled from a generation that lived in a Japan still stirring with post WW2 sentiment. What exactly do I mean by that? Well, don’t quote me, but I think the manga was a big middle finger to the existing establishment of Japan.
All that is not even considering the fact that Hollywood is adapting all the Japanese characters and making them white, a fact that drew huge critcism from famed actor Geroge Takai. It is racist, but making the characters white is understandable. The movie just wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
But consider this: Recently, the masterpiece cartoon Avatar: Last Airbender was adapted into a movie and was a complete failure. While the movie made quite a bit of money (over three hundred million dollars) the movie tried too hard to appease a wide audience by having its main characters be white and not Asian. Even going as far as having white children living in an Inuit village. I think changing the location and race of the characters is necessary to get funding, but how will they handle the change without sacrificing so much of the culture that made Akira what it is?
By Collin, on July 15th, 2011
I think everyone knew this was coming, but a concept artist for Akira, Chris Weston, has come out and said the movie is being shutdown. Who cares?…well, I guess it isn’t a really big deal, but there is a cool fucking movie there damnit. It doesn’t make any sense.
Well, actually it does. The movie would be unbelievably expensive and the story is so “Japanese” it would be hard to bring it to an American audience. Also, weird updates were being brought to the table, for example Christ Weston posted on his site that, “Well, I can tell you that on my first day on the job I was asked to ”redesign the bike”!Yes, that’s right: THE bike.” I am certainly not a purist, but it is stuff like this that would ruin the whole movie. Not because “the bike” doesn’t look exactly the same, but because the spirit of cyber punk would slowly turn into Road Warrior.
Purists of the original are going to have to make some serious compromises if an actual Akira movie is ever made. I really fucking despise people on the internets who say “There is a great manga and animated movie, why make a live-action?” Stupid fucking comment. What would have happened if Peter Jackson said that in regards to Lord of the Rings? Well, we wouldn’t have the best fantasy movies ever made.
Yes, it is a HUGE relief that Albert Hughes, the director of Book of Eli, isn’t going to be involved, but there is just something about seeing what you’ve look at in books and cartoons realized in a live-action space. There are times when a live-action adaptation can actually hurt the original material, (this recently happened to me when I watched Legend of the Seek) but for the most part any type of Akira-based movie, Americanized or not, would be fine by me.
-Collin
By Collin, on May 27th, 2011
I’ve been posting things on and off about Akira because it happens to be one of my most beloved works of graphic fiction. On a side note, my favorite graphic novel, as well as one of the best books I’ve ever read, is Black Hole – a work that I honestly think trancends the medium. But anyway, Akira has been going through a lot of growing pains lately but is still being fast tracked.
I rarely let the fanboy out, but when it comes to Akira I can’t help but nerd rage and the news that the mediocre talent Albert Hughes was going to helm the movie with and that Keunu Reeves was being courted with major roles made me face palm. What a joke. Don’t get me wrong though, Hughes has his talents: Making mediocre movies (From Hell, Dead Presidents, Book of Eli). Menace To Society is pretty damn good, but that was ages ago and he was only a kid (something like 21).
Anyway, in stroke of great fortune Albert Hughes has left the movie and hopefully someone better will step in. Deadline reports that:
Director Albert Hughes is exiting the movie, I’m told. Insiders say that it is an amicable creative differences parting of the ways. Warner Bros will try to put him on another movie right away (Hughes and his brother Allen directed the hit The Book of Eli, and WB topper Jeff Robinov is their former agent and is very close with them).
Also interesting from that article was the little snippet that, “Warner Bros is back to the other plan, and will likely go back to that list of actors in hopes of making the picture later this year or early next.”, referring to their return to using “fringe famous” actors such as McAvoy, Patterson, and Garfield.
I’m still fairly satisfied with how things are going and can always be satisfied I can return to the books and/or movie if this one never gets made.
-Collin
By Collin, on May 12th, 2011
 Buy the first book now. I know the whole series is like 2,000 pages, but it ain't War and Peace. It is a quick read. As recently as yesterday more shit has come through the rumor mill about who, if anyone, is going to play Kaneda in the live-action adaptation of Akira.
I hate all this crap. I really do. That’s why I try my best not to blog about it. I don’t care who is “rumored” to get the part. I just want to hear who is cast and why. This might come as a shock to fanboys (I’m half of one) who sit idly by and wait for the latest casting decisions of their beloved franchises merely to lambast innocent producers who are doing their best to get a project off the ground.
Wherever you come down in regards to a live-action Akira, let’s pretend for a moment that the anime version doesn’t exist. I imagine the producers of the live-action film have the same mindset. Recently Keanu Reeves has, supposedly, been courted with playing Kaneda. Anyone who has even flipped through the monsterous 6-Volume masterwork knows this is foolish – but that’s not my point. Why are they having so much trouble with this and why are they going to such lengths to cast an actor who is way too old? The manga is as much about teenage rebellion as it is about cyberpunk and corruption.
I was celebratory of the producers’ attempts at getting Zac Efron to be Kaneda. I think I even called it “great decision”.
 Kaneda? *Facepalm* However, I can’t understand why they can’t cast this role. Does no one want to be in this flick? Even the great George Takai has stepped into the debate saying on his twitter, “Rumor: WB now talking to Keanu Reeves (45), who is part Hawaiian, to play teenage Kaneda in Akira. I guess Asians don’t age?”. I laughed-out-loud when I read this – it my sentiments exactly. I think Karl Pilkington would come to the defense that Asians(mainly the Chinese) don’t age well, but Takai is exactly right.
I’m well aware that, to my dismay, a live-action Asian adaptation version can never exist. I dream of a NC-17-type mini-series on HBO directed by Takashi Mike with a Japanese cast. But I’m only a dreamer.
It is just too expensive and I wouldn’t hold my breath for such a version. Shifting everything to Manhattan is a natural move. Then the move to Caucasian characters – also natural. But then to a person in his forties? I’m getting the feeling the movie will never get made. It is getting too expensive and weird. I’ll keep an eye on the news coming out, but I’ve become skeptical.
-Collin
By Collin, on November 6th, 2010
 Big rumor: Zac Efron might play Kaneda in Akira
Our blog has been pretty fanboyish of late, but what are you going to do? This news is big though, it is an atom bomb. I heard that Akira was going ahead with the Hughes brothers at the helm. That pissed me off a lot because I don’ t think the Hughes brothers have really made a good move since their first feature. Regardless, obviously from the title you know what is up – Zach Efron was offered the role of Kaneda.
Now it is really, really hard to describe what Akira is to people who are unaware. Most people know it as a really influential anime from the mid-eighties. That it is, but before that it was a hugely influential manga that changed the world of cyberpunk.
What’s cyberpunk you ask? Well, Wikipedia it. I don’t wanna’ use a whole post explaining it, but it is really cool. Most people thought the pressure was on when Snyder made Watchman. I think Akira is a great deal more sacred and the producers have already been shitting all over it.
Do I think Efron is a bad choice? Surprisingly I think he is a great choice. Naturally I think the conversion of Asian to white actors is kind of racist, but hey, how else can you make a bazillion dollar movie? Efron will be bring the androgynous look that so defines the Japanese “pretty-man” look.
 Moreover, what I think is most important is who will be cast as Tetsuo. I’m literally shitting myself wondering. I read in the same article that Joseph Gordon-Levitt might play the part, which would be tits, but I’m still holding my breath. After I saw X-men origins: Wolverine and The Last Airbender I literally can take no more poor adaptations. If the Hughes brothers butt fuck the best manga ever, I’ll be devastated.
Lastly, if you haven’t read any manga, please don’t be a douche and say that it is just for weirdos. Yes, lots and lots of weirdos read manga, but that is no reason not to read it. A lot of freaks watch and read porno and you still use it.
Grab a copy of Akira at your local library, hide it from you girlfriend or boyfriend if you have to, but read it. Akira is a great place to start in the manga world, but be careful, you might get hooked.
It is violent, action-packed, and all six volumes are a really quick read. I’m mad about the film being PG-13, but after seeing Walking Dead on TV, I’m convinced violence means nothing compared to cursing and sex.
-Collin
|
Recent Comments