Another gripe with the story is the lack of explanation for what the Steam Ball actually does and the theories behind how it works. But the whole time I'm thinking 'so what? What are you gonna do with a thing like that? It can't even shoot anything.'. So why all the fuss over it being able to move about? It's creater Dr Edwards apparently just goes all insane over it for being this uber-sized machine that can move. But is it a weapon? Err, I don't think so. For one thing, there appears to be absolutely no point of the Steam Tower as anything other than a power provider, but the whole last hour of the film is dedicated to watching it move about and crash into things whilst implying that it's so important because of this mobility feature. The story is where the first of the major gripes come in. Believe me when I say that I would usually NEVER say this, but I think I wanna see this film with english-dubbed voices, simply because the whole feel of the film is as far from Japanese as possible. The sound, whilst providing awesome sound effects and an even-more-awesome dramatic score to the film, have 2 minor flaws: firstly, the voice of Scarlett is absoultely one of the worst female voices ever and secondly, with such a rich english backdrop to the film, it feels almost wrong that the film is in Japanese. There is also some amusing resemblance of Akira characters in the looks of some of Steamboy's characters, whilst the Steam Tower and general feel remind me of Laputa from Castle In The Sky.

Coupled with not-too-shoddy animation (noticibly improving as the film goes on however), the breathtaking rollercoaster action sequences and gloriously atmospheric settings (both inside the Steam Tower and out in London & Manchester), faulting the visuals is being pedantic. So much of the artwork dazzles you that at times there is simply TOO MUCH to take in. Starting with the visuals, I cannot emphasize enough the magnificent scale and grandieur. SIMILAR TO: (Laputa) Castle In The Sky Akira

Steamboy anime revieswes