Steam Boy

The director of Steam Boy is Katsuhiro Otomo. His last animated feature film was Akira, which I saw in 1990 in Hong Kong, subtitled in Chinese. I was glued to Akira visually, and almost understood what was happening. It was an odd, but enjoyable experience. I'm not an anime fanatic, but I like them well enough. I happened to see Steam Boy pretty much by accident.

Steam Boy is about a family in conflict over the use of science in the world of 1860s England. Young Rei Stim (pronounced "steam") receives a mysterious package from his grandfather and is drawn into a battle for possession of a new and powerful source of energy - the Steam Ball. Rei's grandfather and father invented the Steam Ball, but they are in violent opposition about it's use. Of course there is an evil corporation trying to monopolize the invention by any means possible, and agents of the British government working their own agenda.

Overall, this plot keeps the elaborate visuals of mechanical marvels and the Great Exhibition of London moving across the screen to my great delight. This movie doesn't need to be over-analyzed. It's just a good popcorn adventure story, with all the Japanese mastery of animation that 2.4 billion yen (20 million US dollars) can buy. If you want a thought-provoking anime feature, try Spirited Away which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar Award in 2003. In the mean time, Steam Boy is good viewing. However, try to see a dubbed version if you can; the subtitles take your eyes away from the artwork.