Summary: Young James Ray Steam carries the same engineering blood as his renowned professorate grandfather and father, Lloyd and Edward Steam. While both of them have been working for the O'hara Foundation in the USA for years now, Ray lives up to the Steam name by demonstrating his inherited genius on mechanical and steam contraptions in his Manchester hometown. One day he receives an unexpected package. The contents: a spherical device designed by his grandfather. This "steam ball" marks the beginning of an adventure nobody in 19th century England will likely forget.
What a rush.
I'm sorry, let me try that again.
WHAT A RUSH!
How long has it been since I was this
rooted to my seat, unable to escape the mind lock of a world so elaborate and immersive? Something that even
End of Evangelion or
any of Miyazaki's films have not been able to do, for sure. And how fast did it take to get me into that state? By 7 minutes, when protagonist Ray Steam makes his first appearance, out of the steam.
(Frankly I wished they didn't match the family name with theme of the movie; we're in for some grave overuse of a particular word....)Firstly, we all shouldn't get too excited about the storyline. Boiled down to its essence, it is the done-to-death "prevent Mr X from exploiting Technology Y to destroy the world" theme. Familiar, but thankfully flavoured with some spice elements to prevent it from appearing like a photocopy, as Ray is put through moral decisions by the Steam elders that prove to be confusing and challenging at his age. As with
Appleseed the movie, the plot does not run deep so children have an easier time following, but the script runs a lot more naturally and carries a whole lot less synthetic talk. The truly annoying bit comes in the manifestation of the O'hara heiress, Scarlett. In accordance to bratty princess heritage, she pops in every now and then like that persistent mosquito or fly you cannot smack, babbling irritating noise and never does anything remotely resembling usefulness. If she is supposed to provide comic relief, well..... nothing in this show is funny at all.
But please don't be led into thinking a non-humourous production cannot be highly entertaining.
For once, let it be the case when Astonishing Visuals wins in court. Everything, and I really mean
everything, is lavish with minute details; steam-powered machines are designed elaborately and drawn with precision for every nut, bolt, screw, gear, valve, handle, meter, pipe. And every part
moves. And you will know objects in the environment, big or small, are no mere background art but completely subject to
alteration. Witness the damage and breaking up of vehicles and structures in such spectacular fashion - just about every dislodged brick, beam, pipe, fabric, rod, and wood fragment is
accounted for, it almost establishes the law that wanton destruction is a morally acceptible activity.
To top that off the visuals are more than just the technical amazement. The sheer brilliance of the artistic direction cannot be ignored. Be it fabulous action or serious dialogue, the scenes of wonderous technology all emit heavy doses of the
steam punk culture that permeates this alternative England. Even George Lucas failed to achieve this with his visuals for the
Star Wars prequels.
So this is what you get for spending 10 long years in meticulous production. And this is a production of grand scale. Steam burns are in fashion once again.
Overall rating: 9/10
Grand & spectacular from beginning to end
Scarlett; template theme