Forum - View topicI think I'm gonnaa be sick (Akira live-action movie).
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damien007
 Posts: 180 |
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So as many of you are aware there is currently a Hollywood adaptation of Akira in the works. Of course I was immediately worried but I decided to withhold my judgement until I got more information. However it seems some of my worst fears for this adaptation have been confirmed, the website "acting auditions" recently posted a plot synopsis and preliminary castings, that made me more than a little bit worried.
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. 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. 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." Now I'm usually not one to get worked up by adaptations but it seems in this case that they've completely changed the plot and somehow managed to miss the entire point of the movie. I'm curious to see what other people think of this synopsis, worried? Angry? Scared? Sad? P.S. Not that i really care but here is some of the preliminary casting according to the site also. * Kristen Stewart as Ky * Garret Hedlund as Kaneda * Helena Bonham-Carter as Lady Miyako * Ken Watanabe as The Colonel Edit: Original source with extra details: http://www.acting-auditions.org/2011/11/casting-now-underway-for-leo-dicaprio.html Last edited by damien007 on Wed Nov 30, 2011 10:24 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Unicorn_Blade
 Posts: 1153 Location: UK |
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If it comes to the worst, at least it will have Ken Watanabe in it...
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18579 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I don't see what the big deal is, as that plot is hardly far different from the original's. Setting the story in NYC instead of Tokyo for an Americanized version shouldn't surprise or throw anyone, as nothing in the original story would make its setting intrinsic to Tokyo; any massive metropolitan area would do. Aging Kaneda to an adult is a bit more of an issue, as it takes away the delinquency angle, but Kaneda being a teenager was always the most credibility-straining element of the story anyway. I would have been surprised if they hadn't aged him at least to college-age. (And he could still be an ex-biker/delinquent.) The rest of it more or less sounds like a stripped-down interpretation of the movie version.
Frankly, I'm far more concerned about how the musical score is going to be handled. The anime movie had one of the most distinctive of all musical scores, so losing that entirely would be a bigger blow. |
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wcsinn
 Posts: 186 |
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For better or for worse, this is simply how adaptations work in Hollywood. I am a big fan of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series of books. With the exception of Hunt for Red October the rest of adaptations retained little of the books except the name and a vague similarity to the original plot. This is how things work, and exceptions are rare. Jackson did a pretty good job of retaining the original plot for Lord of the Rings, but even there substantial changes and omissions were deemed necessary.
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Konopan
Posts: 400 |
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I love how everyone keeps saying that this is crapping all over the original movie, rather than the manga on which both films are based.
Also, the whole motorbike delinquents thing doesn't hold much, if any, weight in the US. Street gangs just shoot at each other there. |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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If they're going to set it in Manhattan, why not go the whole hog and Anglicise the names? It would appeal more to non anime fans that way, as well.
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EricJ
 Posts: 876 |
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Helena Bonham Carter as a mad villainess?
Well, nice to see she's...stretching and challenging herself as an actress. 
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Initial plans suggested that Tetsuo would be re-named 'Travis' for the presumed sake of mainstream appeal. |
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wcsinn
Posts: 186 |
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True, but I think the reason is simply that the movie is far better known. |
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damien007
Posts: 180 |
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I understand the logic behind the changes but that doesn't I don't think the movie will be worse off for it. It's more the loss of the small nuances in the plot that I'm worried about. spoiler[For one, the change from them both being in a motorcycle gang is a big loss IMO. The opening scene with the gang fighting was one of the best in the movie and set the tone for the rest of the film. Secondly I don't like the change to Kaneda and Tetsuo being brothers. I always felt that the film was about the strong bond between the two of them but making them brothers just seems lazy. Also Tetsuo is supposed to have suppressed feelings of hatred by being constantly protected by Kaneda the leader of the gang. Based on what I have read about the film Tetsuo will be the only one in the gang so I'm going to guess that he won't have those feelings of resentment and envy to try and surpass Kaneda that where his whole motivation in the original film.] I honestly don't care about these changes as long as the movie itself is actually good. Whenever a director makes significant changes to the source material I think there is some expectation that the overall quality be improved enough to justify these changes. However at the least I think any hope for a faithful adaptation of either the original source material (the manga) or the movie is gone. But like I said if they can make something actually good I can ignore the changes but I'm doubtful at this point. P.S. I've gone ahead and found the original article which has some extra details in it I might edit IT into the OP. http://www.acting-auditions.org/2011/11/casting-now-underway-for-leo-dicaprio.html |
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EricDent
 Posts: 997 Location: Georgetown, TX |
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I don't remember Tetsuo & Kanada being brothers in the anime movie, however it has been a long time since I saw it.
Kind of wonder if the "giant Tetsuo" thing will show up... |
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Primus
 Posts: 2841 Location: Toronto |
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The movie's far from being filmed, so names could still change. |
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Mits
Posts: 54 |
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I surely think the name Kaneda and Tetsuo should be renamed. Those won’t match as names for white actors, since those are Japanese names. Moreover, Kaneda is a family name and Tetsuo is a given name. So if Kaneda and Tetsuo are brothers, the full name of Tetsuo should be Tetsuo Kaneda. That’s sounds… creepy, to be honest.
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Calling white characters by Japanese names is stupid. They should just change them...and they probably still will so no issue there.
The plot is clearly going to have little to do with the source material. That isn't inherently bad although there's no reason for fans to automatically see this that being the case. Judged solely on it's own merits based on what I'm hearing so far, this sounds like it will probably be a B grade forgettable action flick that's mediocre at best. It could be good. Obviously nobody can say with any real certainty. However, it does seem to be trending downward unfortunately. |
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st_owly
Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Seems about right. I'm not a fan of the anime movie, as I feel it compressed the events of the manga too much and was just confusing, and I suspect this will do something similar. |
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