Now Showing: Akira

Akira
Genre: Action/Sci-Fi
Director: James McTeigue
Based on the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo
Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Ezra Miller, Cara Delevigne, Idris Elba, Ken Watanabe, Dacre Montgomery, Hayley Kiyoko, Oakes Fegley

Plot: In 2018, a massive explosion annihilates Manhattan, sparking World War III. By 2045, New York suffers a crime wave and government corruption, especially in the rebuilt "Neo-Manhattan". One night, during massive protests, hot-headed Kaneda (Dylan O'Brien) leads his motorcycle gang, the Capsules, against their rivals, the Clowns. During the brawl, Kaneda's best friend, quiet Tetsuo (Ezra Miller), is seriously injured. The Colonel (Idris Elba) hospitalizes Tetsuo. Later, as Kaneda and his gang are interrogated by the police, he spots Kay (Cara Delevigne), an activist belonging to the resistance movement, and tricks the authorities into releasing her along with his gang, taking an interest in her.

The Colonel and Doctor Ōnishi (Ken Watanabe) discover that Tetsuo possesses powerful psychic abilities similar to Akira (Oakes Fegley), the esper responsible for causing Manhattan's destruction. Meanwhile, another esper reveals Neo-Manhattan's impending destruction to the Colonel, who proposes killing Tetsuo to prevent this, but Neo-Manhattan's parliament dismisses his concerns. Returning from the hospital, Tetsuo steals Kaneda's motorcycle accompanied by his girlfriend Kaori (Hayley Kiyoko), but the Clowns attack them before the Capsules intervene. Tetsuo suffers headaches and hallucinations during the attack, and he is once again hospitalized. Seeking answers about what has happened to his friend, Kaneda rescues Kei and joins the rebels after overhearing their plan to capture Tetsuo. At the hospital, the espers unsuccessfully attempt to kill Tetsuo, and he fights back with his newfound psychokinetic powers to confront them. Kaneda, Kay, and the Colonel converge on the espers' quarters to stop Tetsuo, turning him egomaniacal and unstable. He overpowers them and escapes after learning from an esper that he can gain help from Akira, located in cryonic storage in an underground military base.

The Colonel stages a coup d'état against the corrupt parliament and orders his soldiers to kill Tetsuo. Returning to the local bar for some pills, Tetsuo ambushes his former friends, including Yamagata (Dacre Montgomery), after they arrive, killing the former in the process; Kaneda vows to avenge Yamagata. Tetsuo travels through Neo-Manhattan, wiping out the Colonel's forces, and eventually arriving at Akira's cryogenic storage facility. Tetsuo exhumes Akira's remains: dissected, and preserved for future studies. Using a laser rifle, Kaneda fights Tetsuo in a duel; meanwhile, the Colonel fires an orbital weapon at him but is unsuccessful. After Tetsuo destroys the satellite, he psychically builds a prosthetic arm to replace the one he lost.

The Colonel and Kaori separately approach the stadium, where Tetsuo is in immense pain. The Colonel offers Tetsuo the espers' drugs to control his abilities, while Kaori attempts to calm Tetsuo down. However, Kaneda arrives and duels with Tetsuo yet again. Losing control of his powers, Tetsuo mutates into a gigantic mass consuming all matter, engulfing Kaneda and killing Kaori. The mass continues to grow, and the espers awaken Akira. After reuniting with his friends, Akira creates a singularity that draws Tetsuo and Kaneda into another dimension. The espers teleport Shikishima to a safe distance as the singularity destroys Neo-Manhattan in a mirror of Manhattan's destruction, and three agree to help rescue Kaneda, knowing they will not be able to return to this dimension.

In the singularity, Kaneda experiences Tetsuo's and the espers' childhood, including how much Tetsuo trusted Kaneda and how the children were trained and altered before Tokyo's destruction. The espers appear and return Kaneda to his world, informing him that Akira will take Tetsuo to safety and that Kay is developing psychic powers. The singularity suddenly disappears and water floods the city's remains. In the aftermath, Kaneda discovers that Kay survived, and they drive off into the ruins, while the Colonel watches the sunrise. Finally in control of his powers, Tetsuo triggers a big bang in an alternate universe.