Akira: Please Don't Let Hollywood Screw This One Up

This is Shotaro Kaneda, the lead character of the 1988 anime Akira. Contrary to popular belief, Akira himself doesn't play a big role in Akira - though he is central to the storyline.
Kaneda is the leader of a biker gang called The Capsules in the city of Neo-Tokyo (built just across the way from the crater that used to be "old school Tokyo"). It is established within the movie that Kaneda and the rest of the Capsules are students of a school for juvenile delinquents under 15 years old.

A few years ago, Warner Bros. along with another production company owned by Leonard DiCaprio purchased the rights to turn Akira into a big budget live action Hollywood feature, with DiCaprio himself in the role of Kaneda. I thought that this was a strange decision, but there was a time when DiCaprio could pass for a 14 year old... granted, that time was 1997. In fact, if this movie had happened back then, it could have been just the role Leo was looking for to prove that he was more than just the pretty boy love interest - an image he got himself by making Romeo + Juliet and Titanic back to back. And what's more, it could have been the runaway hit that The Matrix was by beating that movie to the punch. Anyway, a few years has past, and it seems that DiCaprio isn't involved in the project any more. Hollywood bosses seem to have decided that without Leo, the role should go to an already established big name actor... the names talked about so far? James Franco and Brad Pitt....


Here's James Franco... not going to be passing for a 14 year old any time soon, is he.

But is there anyone who could be worse in the role of a 14 year old biker gang leader than the 47 year old Brad Pitt?


Really Hollywood? I suppose there is an argument that can be made about the scripts being written to make the characters older, but then the counter-argument is this... that is not Akira! The story is about ultimate unlimited power in the hands of some serious teenage angst issues (basically Dawson's Creek with explosions, superpowers and graphic violence... and who wouldn't want to see Dawson explode into a grotesque mess?). If you're going to make it about middle-aged men with ridiculous salaries blowing things up, you might as well just not attach the Akira name to it.

Fear not, though Hollywood, for I have the answer to this predicament. You may have to wait another couple of years, but seeing as film's been stuck in "development hell" for years already that shouldn't be too much to ask... Jaden Smith. You can keep the general synopsis of the movie, by merely combining the Japanese biker gang culture with the LA street gang culture, and BAM! You have yourself a movie, featuring a kid who was a star before he was even in a movie thanks to his already famous parents. And you wouldn't have to worry about whether he'd be credible in action scenes... he's already the Karate Kid! (Well, Kung Fu Kid really, but that's a whole other issue).



This is Kei. The female lead of Akira. The big female name that has been connected to this role is Mila Kunis. I could actually see this working... sure, she's currently 27 years old, but I always got the impression that Kei was quite a bit older than Kaneda who was infatuated with her and followed her around. I dunno... maybe it's just my hormones speaking, as I currently believe that every movie should feature a Mila Kunis nude scene... maybe playing the lead role in the also in development hell live action Ghost In The Shell movie would be more appropriate for her.
The problem I have with what Hollywood seems to have in store for this character, though? I've seen the description of the role as "sexy, smart government agent". Government agent? Once again guys, if you're going to change everything about the movie, take the Akira name away from it!

You see, Akira is set in the year 2019. The Japanese government has taken the destruction of the original Tokyo in 1988 (obviously these dates will have to be changed) as an opportunity to take away all civil liberties, and the upcoming Olympic games set to be hosted by Neo-Tokyo is to be the country's big statement to the rest of the world. Rumours persist that it wasn't an enemy attack that destroyed Tokyo, but a mystical being known only as Akira who gained unlimited power and used it for destruction. These rumours have led to increasingly violent cults dedicated to the worship of Akira, and the actions of the government have led to an underground resistance group that plans to uncover the governments secret experiments and overthrow them. Kei is a member of this resistance group. Turning her into a "sexy, smart government agent" is making this the complete opposite of Akira.

That's the end of my rant about a movie that might possibly never come to fruition. I certainly hope it lingers in development hell just long enough for someone in Hollywood to get a clue as to what they are dealing with here... both storywise, and the fact that Akira is undoubtedly the most popular anime movie of all time (discounting Dragonball Z and Pokemon), and screwing it up will result in no one going to see it.

A Break From Talking About Music... Let's Talk Batman Instead

I may be a couple of weeks late with this, seeing as the buzz from the announcement Tom Hardy (Inception) will be playing Bane in next year's The Dark Knight Rises is already dying down, but I thought I'd talk a bit about the character of Bane. Fans of Christopher Nolan's Batman movies that don't read the comics may have felt a sense of trepidation at the announcement, as - unlike The Scarecrow, The Joker and Two-Face - Bane is a relatively unknown character outside of the comics. He made appearances in a couple of episodes of the excellent Batman: The Animated Series, the only other portrayal of the character was in the awful Batman & Robin, in which he was a mindless mutant with a tiny vocabulary following Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy around and doing all of her dirty work.
When you consider this awful representation of the character, it's easy to understand why people wouldn't be particularly excited about the character appearing in the sequel to a movie that featured Heath Ledger's Joker. However, I'm confident that Christopher and Jonathan Nolan know what they're doing, and will bring more of the comics into their version of the character.

Bane first appeared in the Batman comics in 1993, a prisoner in a South American prison - forced to carry out his father's sentence after his father escapes. Within the walls of the prison, Bane becomes obsessed with learning and bodybuilding, seeking an education from fellow inmates. With his mixture of brains and brawn, he eventually becomes the self-appointed "king of Pena Dura prison".

Eventually, the prison controllers force Bane to take part in an experiment with the brand new drug known as Venom. Venom is basically a fast-acting super-steroid that greatly increases his size and pysical strength. The drawback however, is that Venom is incredibly addictive, and he requires a new dose every twelve hours (fed to him via tubes that pump the drug directly into his brain). After these experiments, Bane and a few other inmates escape and make their way to Gotham City.

The reason for the trip to Gotham is simple. In prison, Bane had heard tales of the city and its mysterious protector known only as Batman. Plagued with nightmares involving bats since childhood, he has concluded that the bat in his dreams are a literal representation of Batman, and recognises that Batman holds the same position in Gotham as he did in the prison. As such, he sets about making his plans to usurp Batman's throne and gain control of Gotham City.

The first stage of his plans involves staging a full frontal assault on Arkham Asylum, freeing all of the inmates. This begins the first major Batman storyline I ever read... Knightfall. With the likes of the Joker, the Scarecrow, Victor Zsasz, etc. embarking on a crime-spree around the city, Bane simply sits back and waits for three months as Batman runs himself to exhaustion in an attempt to round them up. In the meantime, he also managed to deduce that Batman is Bruce Wayne. He finally made his move by waiting for Batman to return from a night of patrolling in Wayne Manor...

The exhausted Batman stands no chance against Bane dosed up on Venom, and after a long drawn-out fight in Wayne Manor - extended by Bane holding back until the last second - the issue ended with Batman's spine being broken on Bane's knee. After throwing the broken Batman onto a busy street, he immediately seized control of all organised crime in the city.

As one of the few villains to actually beat Batman, the treatment that he received in Batman & Robin was even more insulting to his character than he would have been otherwise. I'm not sure about all of the backstory, and the Venom angle, but a steroid-using criminal genius? That would definitely fit into Christopher Nolan's Gotham City, whilst at the same time keeping true to the comics. My reservations aren't with the character, but whether Thomas Hardy will be able to pull off the look of the character. Sure, he has beefed up before for his role in Bronson, but Bane has always been even bigger than that. Unhealthily large, in fact. Though they could use clever camera angles to exaggerate his size.

Oh... and if you want to know how the above story played out, read on... if not, then don't.

Bruce Wayne passed on the mantle of Batman to a newcomer named Jean-Paul Valley (aka Azrael), who became increasingly unhinged and violent. After adapting the costume into a high-tech suit of armour (think an amalgamation of Batman and Iron Man), he eventually took on Bane, and beat him to a pulp. A few years later, when Bruce Wayne had returned to the series, Bane reappeared as the right hand man of Ra's al Ghul. The long-awaited grudge match ended with Bane's defeat... and the outcome has been the same every time the pair have clashed since. So I guess that Venom isn't as helpful as he thinks, and his big victory was entirely down to only taking on his target when he was on his lowest ebb.... maybe he's a pussy after all.

Duff McKagan's Loaded Ready To Return

So last night, saw what might turn out to be the premature unveiling of the album art and tracklisting for the new album by Duff McKagan's Loaded. I say prematurely, because a comment from guitarist Mike Squires after I posted it on Facebook was: "Well, I guess it's out there now". For those who may not have seen it, here it is...

1) Lords Of Abaddon
2) Executioner's Song
3) Dead Skin
4) We Win
5) Easier Lying
6) She's An Anchor
7) Wrecking Ball
8) King Of The World
9) Cocaine
10) Your Name
11) Follow Me To Hell

Japan gets their obligatory 3 bonus tracks: 'Indian Summer', 'Runaway (acoustic)' and 'King Of The World (acoustic)'.
The majority of people reading already know me, so will already know about this band, but I'm just going to go on as if nobody else has heard of them anyway.

If you're wondering why you should be excited about a solo project from the former bass player of Guns N' Roses right now? Let me enlighten you... Loaded is not just a solo project. They started off this way when they formed in 1999 to tour behind Duff's soon to be cancelled solo album 'Beautiful Disease', going through numerous line-ups until they eventually split in 2002, just after releasing their own debut album 'Dark Days' - Duff had just gotten a call from Matt Sorum and Slash regarding forming a new band together, which would become Velvet Revolver.

However, in 2008, after things in Velvet Revolver soured, the band's 2002 incarnation of Mike Squires, Jeff Rouse and Geoff Reading regrouped as a fully fledged band. Confusingly, this was when the 'Duff McKagan's' prefix was added to the band name - a record label enforced name change for a mixture of legal and marketing reasons. I believe that this gives the wrong impression. Duff believes that this gives the wrong impression, but that's now the name they're stuck with.

That Autumn, the band released the 'Wasted Heart EP' as well as played a well-received tour of the UK, including a gig in the smallest room of Nottingham's Rock City that became one of the best live performances I have ever seen from any band. Jeff Rouse - who had previously been a member of Alien Crime Syndicate, and had toured four years previously with Duff's replacement in GN'R, Tommy Stinson - is one of the best bass players in the world. His unquestionable ability combined with his hyperactive stage performance make him a true hidden gem in rock n' roll. Mike Squires is another Alien Crime Syndicate veteran - who unfortunately had left the band before the Tommy Stinson tour - and his guitar playing is easily on a par with any other guitarist Duff has played with (and yes, I do mean any). And Geoff Reading was an absolute monster on the drums. Needless to say, this was the moment in which I went from Guns N' Roses fan interested in a former members' other band to a full-fledged Loaded fan.

The following year saw the release of 'Sick', their first studio album for eight years, which quickly became my favourite album of 2009. It's not aiming to be anything groundbreaking, but what it is aiming to be is a kick-ass rock n' roll record, which it delivers in spades. The album had a much more commercial and light sound than it's predecessor, 'Dark Days', which really lived up to its name, but still dealt with some pretty serious subjects like Duff's close-call with death thanks to his partying days ('The Slide'), and the political situation in the US ('Translucent'). All the while, though, it's mainstream production never stops the album being fun, no matter how dark it gets. The summer of that year saw the band extensively tour Europe, ending in a fantastic performance in the blistering heat of Amsterdam's Melkweg. Unfortunately, this would turn out to be Geoff Reading's last show with the band, replaced with former Loudermilk/Gosling drummer Isaac Carpenter.

It wasn't long before Isaac proved himself to be more than capable of filling Geoff's shoes, showcasing some absolutely insane drumming on a UK tour opening for Black Stone Cherry - somehow at the London show, he managed to lose his shoe - followed by a tour of South America.

Not only are they one of the most fun rock n' roll bands in the world currently, with some truly awesome live performances that showcase Duff in his element when it's all close, sweaty and intimite, but they are also some of the nicest people I have ever met. They will stick their neck out for their fans, and for each other. When I first met Duff in November of 2007, I expected him to hate me, because of my tendency to speak my mind - which when I was younger may have crossed the line more than once, but instead he was extremely friendly, and over the last few years we've developed a... I don't want to call it a friendship, as that may sound presumptious, but definitely a mutual respect. We can give little digs to each other, and let each other know when we think they're wrong about something without either of us taking it personally. There is none of the pretense arrogance that a lot of people - myself included sometimes - associate with rock stardom (and in some cases, ever being a member of Guns N' Roses in particular). And the other members of the band all have a similar mindset and outlook on life, which is important when you spend a good proportion of their lives stuck on a bus with each other.

All of these things are reasons why, when Duff briefly joined Jane's Addiction last year, and whenever news of Velvet Revolver nearly finding their new singer arises, I begin to worry for the future of Loaded. They may have an extremely small following - which will hopefully grow significantly in 2011 - but to that following they mean the world. The track 'We Win' was released on iTunes and radio late last year, and I had no doubt upon hearing it that this new album would be just as good, if not even better than 'Sick'.

So there you go... that is why you should be excited for a new album from Duff McKagan's Loaded. If anyone still doesn't believe me, if they come to a venue near you this year, go. See for yourself what the fuss is about.

The Taking will be released on April 16th in Japan, April 18th in the UK and April 19th in the US.
You can stream three tracks ('Cocaine', 'We Win' and 'Dead Skin') at this location... http://tinyurl.com/4u9sxxy