Having just experienced the fabled and much hyped SteamBoy I cannot understand where the five years of labor have gone? It seems that the production team have spent all their energy on drawing fabulous backdrops, designing awe inspiring steam-punk gadgets and making sure that the animation is fluid and top notch while totally forgetting about story, characters and any other points that make a movie work. What you get is lots of mindless, annoying screaming (by the indifferent boy hero), cast of shallow characters and a story that is at the same time too simple, confusing, immensely boring and lacking in climax or closure.
Beauty of the production design only goes so far and only the mightiest of fanboys really enjoys watching 30 minutes of huge steam clouds gushing thru the conveniently empty streets of London and fast pans on pipes that buckle under pressure (that Steam Tower is real flimsy I would say)over and over again. Not much good is done by the blithering of the empty shells of the characters either.
But it's not all bad. I actually enjoyed the scene where the baddies have their war against England/product presentation and it all looks really really good (did I mention that already? :P)
I'm sure that this movie will appeal those who like Otomo's tendency to tell the same story about a huge bulbous thing twisting chaotically in the middle of a huge city.
3/10
Beauty of the production design only goes so far and only the mightiest of fanboys really enjoys watching 30 minutes of huge steam clouds gushing thru the conveniently empty streets of London and fast pans on pipes that buckle under pressure (that Steam Tower is real flimsy I would say)over and over again. Not much good is done by the blithering of the empty shells of the characters either.
But it's not all bad. I actually enjoyed the scene where the baddies have their war against England/product presentation and it all looks really really good (did I mention that already? :P)
I'm sure that this movie will appeal those who like Otomo's tendency to tell the same story about a huge bulbous thing twisting chaotically in the middle of a huge city.
3/10