Steamboy - DVD Review

Perhaps a more devoted anime fan will enjoy every minute of Katsuhiro Otomo's gorgeous-but-hollow Steamboy, but as hard as I tried to get into its world, the film kept me at arms length, happy to show me pretty pictures but never truly involve me in its story.

Part of the problem could be the cultural problems created by an Asian take on a story set in England, interpreted by American eyes, but the script for Steamboy (and I only watched the dubbed version, not the original subtitled one because it was the dubbed one released in theaters) collapses under the weight of its overwritten story. The film centers on a young man named Ray (voiced by Anna Paquin) forced to deal with the issue of scientific responsibility and the corruption of absolute power. What is the purpose of scientific development? To better society? And can that purpose be achieved when the people doing the developing are likely to fall prey to the power created by their inventions? Ray's father goes crazy with the power of steam development, while his grandfather warns of technology gone out of control. And, believe it or not, all of this happens in what is basically an action movie. No one every said Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) wasn't ambitious.

But it's that ambition that eventually sinks the film. Crammed to the gills with detailed imagery and incredibly wordy speeches, the film collapses under its own self-importance. When it's purely an action movie, as in an early sequence involving a train and a blimp, the film is undeniably gorgeous to look at. If you're easily charmed by the visuals of the genre, you can't get much better than Otomo's eye in Steamboy but the best anime merges sumptuous visuals and a riveting storyline to create its magic and Steamboy only wins half that battle. It may win it decisively but pretty pictures can't make a complete film. There needs to be something underneath them to keep you interested.

Now, like I said, I'm not a huge aficionado of the anime genre. I've seen more than the average filmgoer but I'm not familiar with a large portion of the gigantic quantity of anime released every year. Steamboy will likely work better for the more hardcore anime fans because of its undeniable technical brilliance. In other words, if you like anime, they don't get much better made than Steamboy, but if you're on the fence about the genre, this wordy, hard-to-follow script probably won't sway you to the fanboy side.