I covered some of this in my Remakes rant, but I want to expand on this a bit. Anytime the folks in Hollywood get hold of Foreign Film rights to do a remake of it for American Audiences, I usually try to find the original to see just how badly they butcher it. Let's face it, they're pretty much hit or miss when it comes to getting the story right. When it comes to adapting Asian Films for the US market, they just don't get it.
"The Ring" spawned one moderately good adaptation and a lukewarm sequel. "The Grudge", meh, on all counts. The original Japanese version was far superior in my opinion. Hollywood just doesn't get it. I don't think they ever will.
Which brings me to the point of this rant. American Adaptations of Anime to Live Action. "Dragon Ball Z", an interesting anime series based loosely on the legend of "The Monkey King", aimed at kids and adolescents. The Live Action film was a bloody disaster. Jumbled story line, almost no Asian cast members and just a total mess. "The Last Airbender" fared a little better story wise in the hands of M.Night Shamalamadindong, but once again the casting choices were decidedly short in Asian members. And now they want to make "Akira", possibly the best Sci Fi Anime ever made with an American cast and Locations. The Anime fan base is fiercely loyal to the Genre and really hate when their movies and TV Series get mangled by some ham handed non-Asian/Japanese production company. Case in point, the recent movie, "Speed Racer". Great TV series, lots of fun and NOT meant to be taken seriously. The movie? Eh, it was alright but was too ambitious trying to imitate the anime style of the series.
What I'm trying to say is, if any Anime/Manga is going to be made into a live action film, let the Japanese Film Industry do it! They get it! They understand it and can do it justice better than any Hollyweird company could even think about.
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