A total surprise, this refreshing and enjoyable alternate history anime film packs quite a lot of action and adventure in one film. Particularly for fans of Jules Verne this film is a solid pleasure.

Where do I start? I like adventure films and STEAMBOY is not only the most action-packed anime adventure film can remember seeing, it may also be one of the most exciting adventure films of this decade. STEAMBOY is one of the rare adventure films that gave me the same kind of excitement I got with the 1977 STAR WARS. The director is Katsuhiro Otomo who directed one of the classics of anime (though one that did not impress me nearly as much), AKIRA. He wrote the original manga "Akira" and directed the film based on it. He repeated that feat with what is for me the much more enjoyable STEAMBOY, working on the twenty-million- dollar film a reported ten years.

STEAMBOY is in a sub-genre sometimes called "steam-punk." That is it is science fiction set around the time that Jules Verne wrote about. So how would I compare it to Verne films? Being anime it can easily beat the amount of action of 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA or JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, two films I much enjoy. Animation is much less restrictive than live action.

The filmmaker is limited only by what the artist can visualize. This is an adventure that gives and gives some more and gives still more after that. And still it is just in the early stages. It is a film on the responsibility of science and of the scientist that discoveries not be misused. Japanese films have been examining that theme since GOJIRA in 1954 as well they have a right to. But in this film, set in 1866 the technology that is in danger of being misused is steam technology.

In 1866, Ray Steam works in a steam plant in Manchester, England. He wants some connection to his esteemed forebears. It seems he is the son and grandson of great steam inventors though he may not yet have their talent. But Ray does not know even where his father and grandfather are or what they are doing. He fills a role as a functionary in a steam plant to try to live up to the family name. One day a mysterious sort of spherical valve is delivered to him at his home, addressed to him from his grandfather.

The message is to give it to nobody. But almost immediately there are two men at his door explaining why they need to take this odd device. Ray realizes he must protect the sphere from them and the adventure is off and running. His prized device will take him to London where the Great Exhibition of 1866 is soon to take place. The strange ball valve has something to do with an immense machine being built right next the Great Exhibition. Somehow involved in all this is a girl Ray's age named Scarlett.

His relationship with her is anything but steamy. She is a vain and imperious, but Ray may need her as an ally against The Foundation, the organization trying to steal his grandfather's sphere. Ray is involved in a war involving steam-powered suits, steam flying machines, and machines that dwarf people.

The film is in Japanese with (very good) English subtitles and it seems odd to hear all these early Victorians speaking Japanese. Like the film SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW this is a view of the future as it might have been as seen from a point in the past. STEAMBOY is a large-scale adventure film full of a sense of wonder at technology and also a discussion of nuclear weapons in allegory. And it is a lot more.

I rate it a high +3 on the -4 to +4 scale or 9/10.

Mark R. Leeper

Copyright 2005 Mark R. Leeper