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Steamboy

Steamboy (2004)

October. 14,2004
|
6.8
|
PG-13
| Fantasy Animation Science Fiction

After receiving a package from his grandfather, Ray, a young inventor who lives in England during the mid-19th century, finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict related to a revolutionary advance in steam power.

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SnoopyStyle
2004/10/14

Rei (Anna Paquin) is a boy living in 1866 Manchester. One day, he receives a parcel from his grandfather. It's a Steamball which provide unimaginable power. Almost immediately he is confronted by two thugs from the Ohara Foundation. He has been warned by his grandfather to avoid the Foundation and find Dr Stephenson. Only he is captured by the Foundation which turn out to be working under the direction of his father.The animation looks dark and dull. There're so many shades of brown and grey. It's not the prettiest animation that I've seen, but it is very well done. I just wish that it was brighter.As for the story, I found it rather confounding. The boy is rather a stock character. Everybody else is either mean, crazy or annoying. Rei have to choose either his CRAZY grandfather or his CRAZY father. I don't see either as a good choice. Basically Dr Stephenson wants to keep the invention to power weapons for Britain, and the Foundation wants to sell the invention so that other people can power their weapons. And it doesn't make sense for the Foundation to attack the Queen. Not much of it makes sense. Maybe something got lost in translation. The last half is one action sequence after another. The context is all gone. After awhile, the action ceases to have any meaning.

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chris pontello
2004/10/15

Possible the worst Japanamation of all time. It had some good to very good animation, beginning threads of a plot worth the animation, but it fizzled. Admiditly, part of the issue is they do not really bring the viewer to the world, that is the underlying feelings of a era gone by.It is so far away in our collective consciousness it does not work well. My grandfather was born in 1896, he outlived everyone he knew everyone. He told me stories of his childhood. They were depressing on a scale that staggers the imagination at times. Could you imagine being so poor and hungry that you bought HALF of a raw egg?? They did that on streets of new york with a board and a pastry cutter. His job at age 4 was to walk along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and pick up coal bits that fell off the coal cars behind the engine, very dangerous. Lotsa kids got killed like that. Steam boilers popped and people were horrible burned and died of infection. Disease and stink and filth were everywhere. This was downtown brooklyn or chicago or manchester etc. They gave you a taste of that, just a tad, not enough. When the Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24,1883, 2:00 PM . People closed buisinesses, they came out to walk over the bridge in total awe, BECAUSE THEY COULD. For a number of years people would do just that. They walked over water, that was unheard of. The achievement of man over water was beyond expectation. People would come and make a day of walking the bridge. Because it was mind boggling.If that was lost on many, well when they opened the Verizzano Narrows Bridge between Static island and Brooklyn, my dad loaded us into the car and we drove to NJ to visit relatives , just to go on it, we did upper roadway one way and lower roadway back, just to feel it. That is one thing they needed to give the viewer and they tried they really did but, they did not, well, not me. Next up they needed to fill you with the horror and disgust and hatred like that which was felt and directed at:Alfred Nobel, Merchant of DeathHe invented dynamite and became in todays money, a multibillionaire. He was so reviled by many as his invention just brought mo'better ways to destroy people. And the various anti capitalists of the day went at him full throttle. He eventually funded the Nobel Peace price, since he needed a way to have his name held in reverence, NOT revulsion. But the name "Merchant of Death" is well known even to this day.Unfortunately that persona and the inquests senate committees investigating where the money went, who got rich on various wars, while addressed amply I think, wasn't enough to carry the plot since the other things they did not have were too much to overcome. Since I studied euro/American history I can see the parallels, but the average person can not so it is boring. They could not/did not (for me) convey the awesomeness of New technologies for the time.Up to WWII the average person, was born grew up raised kids and died within 25 miles of their parents house. Only the destitute/starving/persecuted and the adventurous tried new things like "America". But that is only an opinion, my own. Japanamation is OK , but this one was as another gent felt, BLAH ciao chris

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CapnDred
2004/10/16

I haven't marked this as a spoiler, but I do mention a couple of things that occur in the film. I don't think they'll spoil it though...I wanted to like this film SO much. I love the Steampunk genre and knowing how good the animation on Akira was I thought this would be a lush Steampunk adventure akin to Ghibli's Castle in the Sky.However, where that film had heart, this one had cogs and steam. Yes, it was beautifully animate and had some lovely ideas in it. The central concept of a power source that never was, and yet is so powerful it corrupts all manner of men and turns family upon itself is fascinating. It's something that I would expect to see in a futuristic sci-fi with some kind of newly discovered power. Setting it in a steam age where the power source is a new way of harnessing steam is, for me, the single best thing about this film. It's a nice twist. My main problem with it is bland characters with nothing to make you feel the ties between them. The film tries to get us to sympathise with James' plight when he makes revelations about both his father and grandfather, without EVER having shown us any kind of previous relationship between himself and them. We are asked to assume that there is an emotional tie between a boy and a father and grandfather who have been absent for an undivulged amount of time. The film asks us to feel betrayal from both the father and the grandfather towards the other, without ever having shown us that they ever did anything but hate each other. It is hard to empathise with this betrayal from two people who we have only seen mistrust each other from the outset. The film asks us to feel James' angst when Scarlett is in peril, without ever having shown us he has any kind of emotional tie to her (and quite rightly so in my opinion for she is rude, abrasive and irritating throughout the whole movie. Why the film then expects us to want James to save her is beyond me!)This film is actually quite cold and mean-spirited. Rarely do we see any character in it act out of anything other than their own interests. Rarely does anyone help anyone else. The characters are selfish and single-minded. I'm normally not so cynical, but maybe this is truer to life than most films. Maybe in such extraordinary circumstances, people would be so selfish. But as a piece of cinematic entertainment, it leaves me cold.What I DID enjoy was that the film didn't clearly outline who was "good" and who was "evil". There was a point, round about where James first meets his grandfather in the castle and stops trying to hinder him, that I almost kicked myself. It was about there that I had a revelation that the film wasn't going to tell me who to root for and I was disappointed in myself for being annoyed with the film up to that point for not making it clear who were the "goodies". Such is how used to being force fed emotion and morals by films. At that point, I was pleased that the film left it up to both James, and the viewer to decide who was "right". Yes, James makes his choice, and as the viewer we are then more likely to side with him, but at the point I described in the film it was very much up in the air and I liked that.Unfortunately I watched the dubbed version. Though, being set in England with English characters, maybe, for one, this was more authentic. I bought my DVD, put it in the player, went to find the language options only to discover it was an English only DVD. Yes - some of the accents were ropey to say the least, but not to the point of distraction. I'm a Midlander but I know what a broad Mancunian accent sounds like. With Patrick Stewart being from Huddersfield, not far from Manchester, I though he might've gotten the accent closest, but he seemed a little too generic northern pushing towards Lancaster. Though that is a minor quibble. And hey - maybe the granddad moved to Manchester from Yorkshire?Lastly - my final major quibble with the film is that by the end of it, I was left with a "so what?" feeling. Has this experience changed James in any way? Or the balance of international power? From the closing credits, I think James went on to develop a super steam train and maybe become a superhero who fought in something like WWI, brought forward maybe due to the steamball? I don't know. The film didn't focus at all on how this monumental experience of being kidnapped and, whilst aboard a pioneering and potentially world-altering piece of technology being actively and aerially embroiled in an explosive international battle for power on which two of his close family members are very active on opposite sides has affected young Master Steam and as such, I find the film again rings hollow.I don't just come on IMDb just to knock films. I come on to comment when something about a film is notable enough to me to comment on, good or bad. And the hype surrounding this film coupled with a certain amount of disappointment was one thing. Also, it is rare that whilst watching a film, I notice a lack of emotional connection at the time of watching. If that lack is there, it's normally afterwards that I notice so I thought this was notable.Technically, a very proficient film. Emotionally, lacking.Where this film's heart should have been, there's just cogs and steam.

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gpeevers
2004/10/17

Steamboy is a beautifully animated film that starts off with considerable promise but seems to loose focus in its final third. The Victorian settings are well used and the characters are fairly well defined. The film falls into fantasy/science fiction sub-genre of steam punk which basically means it's a story set in the Victorian era with a strong dose of either fantasy or science fiction which produces an alternate history to that which we actually experienced.The films protagonist is Ray Steam is a young inventor whose scientist grandfather and father are absent pursuing some great advance in steam power. After some sort of accident a package is sent to Ray by his grandfather and he quickly finds himself pursued by those who want the package. The importance of the package is apparently connected to the upcoming Great Exhibition of 1866 in London. While I won't spoil the films resolution I will say that it is unfortunately a little heavy handed and over the top. The conclusion isn't enough to spoil my overall enjoyment but it is disappointing and inconsistent.The DVD has available both the original Japanese audio with sub-titles (for the purists) and is also dubbed into English with a fairly note worthy cast. The American cast includes Anna Paquin, Alfred Molina and Patrick Stewart. The film was both directed and co-written by Katsuhiro Ôtomo who is probably best known for the blockbuster anime Akira.Although Akira is definitely a superior film it did similarly also lose direction somewhat toward the end. An impressive vision of a future Tokyo, an intriguing story and the characters got lost somewhat in the over the top resolution. Despite this drawback I still recommend 'Steamboy' and highly recommend 'Akira' for their amazing animation well realized characters and settings in addition to their story concepts. Although I feel both tried to hard to achieve a monumental conclusion that wasn't as satisfying as it could have been.

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