Steamboy

Having adored Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, and being that I am currently exploring the realms of Steampunk fiction, I'm glad I finally had a chance to see this film.Steamboy: Director's Cut is set in a unique offshoot of that science fiction-slash-fantasy genre-mashup known as Steampunk, which features late-eighteenth-to-early-nineteenth century industrial age mechanics, powered by steam-based systems in some alternate universe where steam has been made as potent as dynamite, and engineers have proven capable of building anything, no matter how impossibly large or complex. It's an odd mix of the Industrial Revolution and Victorian morals and ideals with impossibly complex mechanical technology and a complete disdain for the natural limitations of matter, a romantic before-physics-and-fossil-fuels-ruined-everything kind of notion. And right now, there seems to be one of those technological backlashes going on in the entertainment industry, resulting in a lot of magic, fantasy, and, well, this. Whatcha gonna do? You put on your aviator's jacket and goggles, wind up your pocket watch and go with it!A PG-rated story--mainly for violence, which is mostly comic-book harmless but does show a bit of blood--Steamboy is a boy's adventure romp from beginning to end, with plenty of chase scenes, on-the-fly inventions and cool gadgets to help Ray out of each jam. Steamboy uses a mixture of traditional and computer animation to take full advantage of the Steampunk genre. The colossal engines, Victorian-era zeppelins, cobbled-together garage inventions and hybrid machine-bastards are the eye-candy of Steampunk, and nowhere have have I seen them better presented than in this production. Every frame is gorgeous: The backgrounds, machines and action are so beautifully rendered as to elicit oooohs and ahhhhs from those anime fans out there. I do find myself wishing animators would put as much work into the character's faces as they did their incredible machines and backgrounds... they all tend to be the very basic of caricatures, as is unfortunately typical of anime. This complaint aside, it's hard not to love the look of this production.In many ways, the movie reminds you of Akira, with its massive scales, world-shattering technologies and themes that make individuals seem as insignificant as ants. And the ending of Steamboy is Akira-like in its constant escalation of technology-gone-wrong that impacts the very atmosphere around the juggernaut known as the Steam Castle, and threatens to destroy Manchester, the historic Crystal Palace (early symbol of the Industrial Era that inspires Steampunk), the Queen and, ultimately, the very British Empire.Like Akira, the ending just seems to keep going beyond the point where a more practical director would have said, "Okay, enough already." Still, if you can forgive the animators' over-zealous efforts at the end, you'll find yourself exultant at how much fun Steampunk can be, in the right hands--the hands of the Japanese, apparently.

In Steamboy, Director Otomo turns his attention to the Steampunk genre, and the result is a gripping Victorian era techno-thriller. The macguffin of the plot is a ball that is supposedly able to store steam at enormous pressure and density. It doesn't make much sense, but it manages to drive a plot with a lot of action, engaging steam-puffing war machines, and some moderately sophisticated debate about the uses of science and technology.The characters are engaging, although hero Ray is the usual somewhat generic plucky adolescent. The spoiled adolescent aristocrat Scarlett is considerably more interesting, as are Ray's father and grandfather, who personify conflicting ideas about the uses of technology.The animation is, of course, wonderful, as expected from the director of Akira. The film is full of strikingly original action scenes, which are both well conceived and well executed. Destruction abounds. Reputedly, the film used quite a bit of computer graphics, but it is extraordinarily well integrated. The hand-drawn characters do not have the "pasted in" look that has characterized most previous attempts to combine hand drawn and computer generated art, and I was hard put to tell where the traditional animation ended and the computer animation began.The DVD includes both the original Japanese version (with English subtitles available) as well as an English dubbed version. The English dubbing is extremely well done, with top notch talent including Anna Paquin (Rogue from the XMen movies) as the adolescent boy hero, Patrick Stewart as his grandfather, and Alfred Molina as his father. The English dubbing was overseen by Otomo himself, and is arguably better suited to the story than the original Japanese, as it is set in Victorian England. There are, however, a few moments where the words do not quite mesh with the mouth movements--which is a bit of a testament to the quality of the animation; in most animated films, you can't tell what language the characters are supposed to be speaking, anyway.Although this is an animated film, it is not a kid's movie, and some parents will probably find some scenes inappropriate for small children. There is a lot of violence and destruction, at least as much as in a typical theatrical action thriller, but relatively little gore or overt killing--less than in Akira. There is, however, a moment when young Scarlett comes face-to-face with a dead soldier. It is an important and necessary scene, but might be troubling to some children.

I really enjoyed this movie and I really can't add much that hasn't been covered in other positive reviews. I found the movie to be entertaining and technically well done. The animation and audio quality of the movie are pretty good. I thought the music score was outstanding. Perhaps more than any other animated film I have ever seen this movie feels like a live action film and not an animated film. Some may see that as a problem. I personally do not. This is the kind of movie I could show to people not familiar with anime without feeling embarassed. The movie does have its problems. The story is perhaps average and there is little character development. Don't expect this movie to be Akira II or Son of Akira. This movie is more like the Rocketeer than anything. This movie does have a message (or messages). This is a "message" movie about the nature of technology and its use (or possible misuse). Messages are subtle though. Otomo doesn't feel the need in this movie beat you over the head with his point. I personally like it that way.I should mention that both the subtitled and english dubbed versions run the same length (126 minutes). There are no cuts to the dubbed version. That of course has been a worry to some since the theatrical dubbed version had a number of big cuts to its running time. You do not have to worry about that with the R1 DVDs. BTW, I found the dub to be pretty good.