steamboy (2004)
by zEke
steamboy is the most expensive full length Japanese animated movie made to date with an initial production cost of twenty six million dollars. It is also writer and director Katsuhiro Ôtomo, the one behind akira (198 
, second major anime release after over a decade. Nevertheless, it will not have the impact in anyone that akira had in those who were able to decode it. It will, somehow, please a wider range of audiences, mainly because, better or worse, no one will get lost with this one’s plot.
The movie is without question one of the best animated movies I have ever seen, this is visually, of course, and with Hayao Miyazaki’s permission. The visuals are breathtaking. The alternative Victorian era of the United Kingdom that it portrays is both retro and gentle to see. The scarce action sequences are well cared for and every now and then you will feel that the screen is not big enough to fit the enormity of some of them.
In the middle of the British Industrial Revolution Lloyd Steam and his son Edward are on their way to manufacture the ultimate steam engine in Russian Alaska. Meanwhile young Ray Steam does and undoes in Manchester. His life changes all of a sudden when he receives a steam ball from his grandfather. A steam ball that can change the world the way it is and will turn Ray into the target of the O’Hara Foundation, the company behind the discoveries of his relatives.
Arguably, the Achilles’ heels of this pretentious production are its length (the international release, that I have not seen, is around twenty minutes shorter) and that it likes itself too much when philosophizing (not about artificial intelligence like in ghost in the shell: innocence (2004) but still over the top). The movie philosophizes too much about how human kind will never be ready for the constant technological evolution. Things around us evolves faster than we are able to adapt to them. Thus, most of the dialogs, whose only goal is to point out that idea, seem false, and after a while, annoying. People just do not talk about that while trying to save their lives. Furthermore, I do think the average viewer is able to understand the whole point without the need of all that chinwag.
In summary, a well made animated movie that is not better because of its pomposity and the transcendence that it pursuits with some of the character’s artificial and out of place speeches.
For the deadhours of those who dreamt to be an inventor someday and keep playing in their garages.
deadrate: δair
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You are so much like me, or i’m like you, well anyway, if we knew each other we’d make a good team, hehe, keep up the good work
I’ll give it a try, I’m not very used to these japanese animated movies, though. I must confess I liked “Spirited away”, but I didn’t enjoyed it as much as people around me did. I don’t know, maybe I like abstract stuff when talking about music and painting but I’m afraid Chihiro’s adventure was too much for me.
Chihiro is probably the best animated film I’ve ever watched. You must give it a try, Patxi.
I prefer “ghost in the shell”, but definitely “spirited away” and most of Miyazaki’s work is worth watching…