Steamboy

In the Victorian era, the British Empire is bustling with the energy of the steam-powered industrial revolution. Following in the footsteps of his famous family of inventors, James Ray Steam enjoys his youth in Manchester helping at local factories and stealing components for his own creations. One day, he receives a package containing a strange ball with an attached valve from his grandfather, who has been working in the United States alongside Ray's father. However, it is not long before people from the O'Hara Foundation storm into his house demanding he hand it over.

Confused and afraid, Ray attempts to flee to the home of his grandfather's colleague, Robert Stephenson, with pursuers hot on his trail. While Ray seeks to piece together the secret of the ball and discover the power it contains, it seems practically everyone in the British Empire is ready to seize it from him.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Steam, James Ray Main

Suzuki, Anne Japanese

O'Hara-St. Jones, Scarlett Main

Konishi, Manami Japanese

Steam, James Lloyd Supporting

Steam, James Edward Supporting

Tsukayama, Masane Japanese

Emma Supporting

Kobayashi, Sanae Japanese

Jason Supporting

Inada, Tetsu Japanese

David Supporting

The Admiral Supporting

Saka, Osamu Japanese

Thomas Supporting

Hibi, Aiko Japanese

Smith, Alfred Supporting

Terajima, Susumu Japanese

Otomo, Katsuhiro Director, Script, Original Creator

Matsumi, Shinichi Director

Andou, Hiroaki Episode Director

Takagi, Shinji Episode Director

Reviews

Mar 22, 2009

Skadi

Recommended

Steamboy is intended to be one of those grand adventure stories set in fantastical world with pure hearted heroes and nefarious villains. It certainly has high production values and some incredible CGI effects and action. But in the end it fails to really deliver those ambitious goals.

The plot of Steamboy is really nothing all that original. If you've seen any adventure stories before then the overall premise is going to feel very familiar to you. The story centers around the boy Ray Steam, who is an inventor from a family of inventors. After he receives a mysterious package from his ... grandfather he soon finds himself chased by villains who want it for themselves. The story has lofty goals but by the time the movie ends, I found myself confused about what actually happened and what the purpose of the whole thing was. Also it didn’t feel like any of the villainous characters ever really faced any consequences for their actions and the only people hurt were the innocents they stepped on throughout the story. Maybe I am being to idealistic but I want the bad guys to get their just deserts, and Steamboy didn’t leave me feeling that they had.

There is a lot of very good action in Steamboy however. Fans of action will have a lot to like here. The battles and action scenes are marvelous to watch and the CGI effects are wonderfully embedded within the animation. The movie also does a wonderful job in building a Victorian Age fantasy with amazing steam powered machines of all types. It reminds me a lot of a Jules Verne style story.

Ray Steam is an adequate leading character. He is heroic and idealistic and very much a standard and predictable character type for this kind of story. There just isn’t enough development of his past or personality to make him all that compelling or memorable. Scarlett is even less interesting as we learn almost nothing about her either. I did not find her to be all that likable nor did I care much about what happened to her. She’s spoiled and arrogant and cruel to animals. She seems to make a little progress as the story unfolds but not enough to make me actually like her. Steamboy's villains are not anymore interesting. While they don’t fit the black/white stereotype that one often seen in these characters for this story type their motivations are obscure and not well defined for most of them. The ones that are just don’t give you enough reasons to dislike them and cheer on our hero.

While the animation was really top notch in most cases, I did not care for the character designs. Particularly that of Scarlet as she looked more like a cross dressing boy than a girl. As I mentioned the animation for the various steam machines and action was amazing. The level of detail and fantastic designs were definitely a highlight. The music and acting was all very good though. The background music did a lot to build the grand scale of the movie.

Steamboy is overall though just an average adventure story. I certainly didn’t dislike this movie at all, I've just seen a lot better. Still I don’t think anyone would dislike this so if you enjoy fantasy and adventure stories, Steamboy will be well worth your time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Aug 14, 2013

bedheadred

Mixed Feelings

Steamboy is one of the most expensive Japanese animated movies made to date and was in production for nearly ten years. Sadly, they should have put more effort into perfecting the script for this ambitious anime.

The attention to detail sets this anime apart from all others. Each cog and gear are intricately animated in the many inventions in the movie. The architecture of Victorian London is duplicated perfectly. The CGI used was so seamless, I didn't notice. The sound track is grand and befitting of the time period.

The anime has no clear message and is clouded by characters whose purpose is ambiguous. The ... protagonist is faced with a situation where he must side with either the word of his father or grandfather. No evidence is presented to the viewer as to which character is more credible besides the father looking more diabolical as he was disfigured in an accident. Next enters Miss Scarlet, a young, spoiled heiress. Is her character supposed to be comic relief or an analogy about society being blissfully ignorant to scientific advancement used to further war as long as profits are made? Finally, during the second half of the movie, massive destruction of property occurs, and you would assume loss of life. The movie takes the "no one ever dies in a children's movie" philosophy. I feel that if there had been consequences in the movie, the message of the anime might have shown through instead of being buried in the interpersonal struggles.

While Steamboy offers breathtaking animation and the voice acting of Patrick Stewart, the story telling definitely runs out of steam.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Nov 6, 2008

770312

Not Recommended

Story: The retelling of history has been done many times in various series, it can be fun a lot of times, but Steamboy really dropped the ball this time. Many times actually, Ray just couldn't keep a hold of it. [oh snap, a pun] *ahem* I'm still not really sure what they were trying to do with the story. Apparently the kid's father had some skewed view on science and decided to start a war with Britain. There wasn't much of a lead up to this, it just kind of happened at some point. There are far too many obstacles for Ray. Each time he ... is tasked with doing something some random person or thing gets in his way. Yeah, obstacles make the story interesting and all, but not when they are so ridiculous and far fetched... and numerous. This is a retelling of history and this is an anime, but the inventions were just too much. They didn't seem believable in the least bit which is kind of disappointing when they're such a big part of the movie. The story just was not interesting at all.

Art: The art is pretty much the only thing this movie has going for it. It's extremely detailed and just beautiful. Some of the larger scenes, such as the beginning of the festival, are filled with such grandeur that you almost forget that you are watching something so terrible. The London Exhibit, Crystal Palace, is another prime example of the beauty in this series. I've seen it in other series, but in this movie it is just wonderful. The last ten minutes or so are especially gorgeous.

Sound: I didn't find myself noticing too much of the regular music, it was a bit bland. The pieces during the more action packed sequences and the ending were superb. They fit extremely well with the scenes and were just phenomenal. The sound would have gotten a ten, but like I said, the music during regular scenes was just average.

Characters: None of them were very well done. I didn't feel any sort of connection with a single one. The main character, Ray, is just a typical good boy and that's pretty much it. Then there is the Miss Scarlet character... I don't get her at all. She was made out to be extremely stuck up and terrible in the beginning, she even abused her poor dog!, yet she somehow turns out to be the romance interest of Ray. Her character was just bland and had no depth, just like their relationship. The other characters didn't have anything going for them either, they were fueled by greed, misguided philosophies, and various other cliche driving forces. The father was one of the worst as well; changes in heart after being a complete douche are just lame.

Enjoyment: This was one of the first movies I considered dropping in the middle of it. The story and characters were just so bad that I almost couldn't keep watching. The only thing that kept me watching was hope that it would somehow redeem itself in the end, a hope that was completely wasted and silly. I can't say I enjoyed this at all really.

Overall: Well, if you want something really nice to look at for two hours I'd say give this movie a watch. If you're looking for a good story.... I'd seriously recommend watching something else. The lackluster story and characters, the far fetched inventions, and the ill placed obstacles completely ruin this movie. This is definitely something that should be passed by unless you are willing to sit through two hours of crap just for amazing animation.

If you don't find this review helpful, please send me a PM or leave a comment as to why you feel that.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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