What is the general opinion of Steamboy?

[citicslmatts]

Hi there ladies and gents,

I'm a little confused. I was hoping someone could clear this up for me - why have I heard so many bad things about Steamboy? I heard that it didn't go down well and has been labelled a flop or something? If that's right, why was it a flop? Does anyone happen to know?

I'm sure it's like anything in that some people like it and some don't, but I've heard LOADS of terrible things from a number of sources about what I thought was an awesome movie! I was wondering why this is the case...

How do you rate Steamboy? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Are the people I've spoken to/things I've read wrong or right? I thought it was great - there must be others like me!

Sorry, this isn't really a 'recommend Steamboy to me or not' post - I was just wondering what general opinion was...

I enjoyed it but can see why many people do not. It looks great but for some reason never really seems to pick up much narrative steam, if you'll pardon the expression. It just kind of plods along from one set-piece to the next. I never developed any involvement with the characters and was left to appreciate it on a purely technical level. I wouldn't call it a flop but I was definitely underwhelmed.

Chip

[itsuka]

I didn't hate it, but it felt unsatisfactory. It wasn't so much the characters, which were decent, or the animation, which was great. The plot was so-so. Not bad in itself, but it should have been tighter. Especially the pacing and the development of the plot didn't work out for me. So, overall feeling was that it wasn't bad, just mediocre.

[fantasydewdrop]

Like the others, I found it pretty and fun, but it wasn't all that deep. The writing style wasn't one of the ones that holds you and never lets go.
Scarlet is a fairly amusing character, but I feel sorry for her dog.
It'd be nice to see a sequil come out though, because the ending credits show still images that take place after the movie that are intreaguing.

[Isuzu Inugami]

It was very pretty and fluid (although often the colors seemed to wash down to just one or two shades dominating the screen), but the characaters just weren't there. I really didn't find anyone interesting until Scarlett showed up. And the narrative seemed to jump around a bit too arbitrarily and just didn't pull off the philosophical depth it was trying to claim, so I wound up not very engaged with the argument and not especially caring which side won out in the end.

[citicslmatts]

These are all good points so far - I am starting to see why I've heard what I've heard.

I must agree that the story does plod from one bit to the next, which I'm sure some folks have a problem with - however, animation is my number one concern, and I thought the quality in that department made up for the lack of 'oomph' in the story/characters... That's why I enjoyed it.

If story/characters was mainly what I was after, I must admit my view on the movie would probably be similar.

[mcarocks2003]

I put this in the same category as Sky Blue (Wondeful Days).

Both have really pretty animation but lack decent execution.

[aquapermanence]

[ QUOTE ]
ICM said:
however, animation is my number one concern, and I thought the quality in that department made up for the lack of 'oomph' in the story/characters... That's why I enjoyed it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Animation quality is hard to argue with, especially since it's something we knew would be there from the start. But for all the money, technical development, and historical research that went into making this movie, it still doesn't stand out (story-wise) as something too memorable. While I'm glad to see anime still being made that isn't pandering to the fanservice and moe-character crowd, just being inoffensive on its own won't make a movie great.

Additionally, with the involvement of Otomo, one who's followed his works can't help but draw comparison. Akira left a bold impression on its viewers for both the technical quality of the animation and the stark violence in its story. Memories and Construction Cancellation Order make for very recognizable short stories with unique and differentiated characters. Roujin Z blends techno-horror so closely with a tongue-in-cheek comedy style, that's it's hard to not be amused and unnerved at the same time.

Steamboy tells an adventure story, and there are moments of levity and spots where people die. But the humor isn't so much incisive as timely (usually revolving around the old standard of combining lofty idealism and human fallacy), and the violence isn't visceral. Characters may have weight when they fall, but there's little sense of the internal anatomy that lends form and function to their bodies, and whose breakdown would be fatal (a theme common to Otomo's other works).

All in all, it feels very much like a fantastical old story done on a grandiose level, but kept carefully within the boundaries of what would be considered traditional safe Western children's entertainment. Like the works of Jules Verne, the scientific concepts are reasonable and simplistic right up until they break the bounds of believability, the characters are fanatical in their opinions but largely one-note sounding boards, and there are no references to human sexuality or defecation (and little if any in the way of vice).

Does that make it a bad movie? Not really. But it does make it hard to deal with sometimes, when you feel like the intended audience lived a hundred years ago. Just as I'm sure today's viewers of Spider-Man and Star Wars who grew up on the original franchises felt they had to suffer through the forced romance and melodrama of the new movies as a concession to current pop culture conventions, so does the viewer of Steamboy have to chew through the Steam family's endless expositions on the glorification of mankind through the power of science in order to get to the meat of the story.

[citicslmatts]

Now that is one very nicely put analysis mate.

I totally see where you're coming from - after reading that, yeah, I can see why people didn't rate it as much as the other things Mr Otomo was involved with. I'll have to agree that there were bits where the 'fanatical science speeches' became a bit much. And yeah, considering the budget and effort put into its creation, it is reasonable to expect more story than it offered. Fair play man.

[Otakufan]

I found Steamboy on a par with the recent Appleseed movie.

Great to look at, awesome animation, superb surround sound but they just don't have the type of storytelling ability of a Princess Mononoke, Wings of Honneamise or Kiki's Delivery Service.

More's the pity.

I still recommend them though especially if you want to show off your home theatre system.

J.A.