Anyone who has seen Akira or Memories would have doubts about Otomo's ability to create a children's movie. Yes, Steamboy is made for a much younger audience than Akira, but at the same time it uses many of the concepts and visuals from it. When you mix child-friendly entertainment with huge orbs crushing cities, it gets weird.
If you can see past this, however, you're in for a treat. Steamboy is the most expensive anime ever made and it shows. The attention to detail, the insane amount of eye-boggling steampunk contraptions, the quality of movement and the smooth combination with CGI makes it very pleasing to watch. The Victorian era gives Otomo lots of space to delve in his mechanical obsession, reminiscent of "Cannon Fodder".
The dub is alright, nothing special(the Japanese one, that is). I suppose in this case watching the English dub would have been more appropriate! Characters are of varying depth, but there isn't a lot of development. Some are there purely for comedic relief, which is OK for a kid's movie.
I think we all agree that it would have been better if Otomo spent those 20 million dollars on another dark, deep masterpiece, but Steamboy is still worthwhile and an achievement in animation.
If you can see past this, however, you're in for a treat. Steamboy is the most expensive anime ever made and it shows. The attention to detail, the insane amount of eye-boggling steampunk contraptions, the quality of movement and the smooth combination with CGI makes it very pleasing to watch. The Victorian era gives Otomo lots of space to delve in his mechanical obsession, reminiscent of "Cannon Fodder".
The dub is alright, nothing special(the Japanese one, that is). I suppose in this case watching the English dub would have been more appropriate! Characters are of varying depth, but there isn't a lot of development. Some are there purely for comedic relief, which is OK for a kid's movie.
I think we all agree that it would have been better if Otomo spent those 20 million dollars on another dark, deep masterpiece, but Steamboy is still worthwhile and an achievement in animation.