Steamboy (2004)

[Mofo Rising]

Hot damn!

STEAMBOY is Katsuhiro Otomo's (AKIRA) latest epic film.  It takes place in an alternate 19th century, where steam power has been developed to a fantastic degree.  Young Ray is the son and grandson of two famous inventors.  When his grandfather sends him a mysterious "steam ball", Ray is thrust into a world of politics and espionage.  At least that's the set-up.

And to think, I was somehow expecting something lesser from this film.  Otomo has created a living breathing world and some of the finest action scenes I've seen in an animated film in a while.  The film is two hours long, and the last hour is almost non-stop.

Surprisingly, the whole thing is very western.  I wonder what Otomo was reading when he wrote this thing.  It's also an anime you can safely watch in English (why not? it's set in England).

To top it off, it ends with one of the best credit sequence I've seen in a while, setting the whole story as only the beginning of an entire pulp universe that doesn't exist.  Bravo.

STEAMBOY, if you are a fan of anime, or just action in general, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I didn't like this movie at all. I saw in thearters and just loathe it. The story is weak and the only thing going for it is the animation. I wasn't expecting other Akira either. I am not trying to get at you Mofo, just posting my opinion and what does that matter?
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Most of all I hate dancing then work, exercise, people,stupid people



Post Edited (09-24-05 02:45)

[dean]

I rented this earlier this week [I still have it] but after the first 15 minutes the disc kept playing up, so I gave up.  I didn't mind what I saw, but it wasn't anything too fantastic.  Maybe the last half is the half I need to see.

[Neville]

It is a very good film, but Otomo is not learning from his mistakes in "Akira": You just can't have a climax that occupies half of the movie.

[dean]

Actually speaking of Akira, at the end of last year/start of this year, I read the 6 volume graphic novel.  It's pretty darn fantastic, and continues on after the movie [since the movie was made before some volumes were released yet I think]

You think that was a climax that went for ages?  You should read the Graphic Novel, the end of the movie is about the half way point of the novel, and it just goes on and on and on... but not in a bad way [it actually held my attention reasonably well throughout, though I admit it wasn't always super]

If anyone gets the chance and was a fan of the movie I suggest you watch it just to get the full idea of where they were going with the storyline.  Post-apocalyptic roaming gangs, new religions and sattelite lasers...  lots of fun all round really.

[Mofo Rising]

I'll agree with rich that the story of STEAMBOY is pretty weak because there isn't one.  Well, actually there is, but it mostly involves the father and grandfather yelling about science.  Viewing the movie as an action piece, however, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Speaking of AKIRA, what is it with Otomo and very large things destroying cities?



Post Edited (09-24-05 10:41)

[Neville]

I'd say large things destroying cities are a national obsession for the Japanese people in general, as the many Gojira films seem to prove.

[Andrew]

I enjoyed it, but also thought the plot did not go much of anywhere.  Interesting, because you mostly had character development (or character study, since some do not change much) and action as the focus, just nothing cohesive as far as where they were going.

The almost fantasy level of steam technology was interesting.

[Flangepart]

Story was...average.
Execution...priceless.
The visuals are worth the time, even if the story is not any thing to write home about.
That sums up a lot of Anime, don't it?