Akira reimagined for American audience

Katsuhiro Ôtomo’s Akira is, on the surface, a bit overcomplicated for American audiences. The animated sci-fi epic tells the tale of a bike gang leader, Kaneda, whose close friend, Tetsuo, gets wrapped up in a secret government project. Kaneda attempts to save Tetsuo, but meets anti-government activists, greedy politicians, mad scientists and mad-with-power generals along the way. Tetsuo then turns into a giant mutant brain monster, and, well, the rest of the plot is a bit harder to explain. So it’s a good thing that Leonardo DiCaprio, with the aid of Warner Brothers, has taken on the task of turning Akira into a two-part live action schlock-fest. Right?
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