Steamboy...
There was a lot of anticipation when Steamboy was released. Katsuhiro Otomo, the legendary director that brought Akira to the screen has returned to bring us Steamboy...
I found the story to be somewhat better than Metropolis, but, not quite as good as Akira. The animation quality though, is far superior to Akira. There are some very stunning moments in the movie. Particularly, the climactic battle near the end of the movie. The mecha sequences are all exceptionally well rendered. CG effects abound, but, it seems, to me at least, that the animators went to great pains to try to blend them with the traditional animation. There were some minor elements of the story that I didn't care for, but, overall I think Steamboy is really good. I gave Steamboy a 3 out of 5.
From the leader in anime and internationally-renowned director, Katsuhiro Otomo (Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis, Memories and Akira), comes his first feature-length directorial project since his breakthrough film, Akira. Ten years in the making, with a total budget of $22 million, STEAMBOY is the most expensive Japanese anime production ever.
Victorian London is attacked by an army of futuristic, mechanized war machines and only Ray Steam - the young, brave inventor who knows the astonishing secret behind the invading forces incredible power - stands between the city's survival and ultimate destruction.
With more than 180,000 drawings and 400 CG cuts, STEAMBOY is one of the most elaborate animated features ever created. STEAMBOY has been brought to life with an outstanding ensemble voiceover cast including Anna Paquin (X-Men), Patrick Stewart (X-Men), and Alfred Molina (SPIDER-MAN 2).
I found the story to be somewhat better than Metropolis, but, not quite as good as Akira. The animation quality though, is far superior to Akira. There are some very stunning moments in the movie. Particularly, the climactic battle near the end of the movie. The mecha sequences are all exceptionally well rendered. CG effects abound, but, it seems, to me at least, that the animators went to great pains to try to blend them with the traditional animation. There were some minor elements of the story that I didn't care for, but, overall I think Steamboy is really good. I gave Steamboy a 3 out of 5.
