It’s easy to overstate a film’s importance to the canon. But it’s hard to do that with Akira, the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed 1988 Japanese science fiction animated film that influenced action movies like The Matrix and brought on a tidal wave of international interest in manga, anime, and Japanese cinema. Set in a dystopian Tokyo circa 2019 (tick tock, folks), this gripping, strange movie follows the teenage leader of a biker gang as he blazes through dreamy urban streetscapes — all hand-drawn with astonishing detail and without the use of computer animation — in search of the imprisoned psychic named Akira. Inspired by films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, Akira packs a haunting, emotional wallop. Now it’s back on the big screen for one showing only, as part of Amherst Cinema’s Big in Japan series.
Akira: Friday, April 22 at 9:30 p.m. $9-$10. Amherst Cinema, 28 Amity St., Amherst. (413) 253-2547. amherstcinema.org.
