fter a seemingly catastrophic accident while attempting to develop a new source of energy, Lloyd Steam (Stewart) and his son Eddie (Molina) battle for control of their revolutionary new invention: a "steam ball" that may one day be able to provide power for countless cultures across the globe. Lloyd sends it to his inventor grandson Ray (Paquin) for safekeeping, only to discover that a mysterious organization called the O'Hara Foundation will stop at nothing to retrieve it for its own potentially malevolent designs.
A breakneck chase ensues, pitting Ray's fledgling inventions against the O'Haras' sophisticated machinery, and he is soon captured along with the steam ball and returned to the Foundation pavilion. Upon his arrival, Ray discovers that his father, Eddie, is not in fact dead, and has been reconstructed from machine parts; despite his initial reservations, Ray soon joins Eddie's team to integrate the steam ball into the O'Haras' steam castle, a vehicle of unimaginable power. But when a leak threatens to destroy the steam castle mere days before its maiden voyage, Ray's survey of the damage reveals that his grandfather, too, survived the accident, and plots against Eddie and the O'Hara Foundation.
Ray is soon forced to choose between his father and grandfather—and their equally persuasive rhetoric—and decide what purpose the steam ball will serve in society. He ultimately chooses to side with the British army, which, like the O'Haras, wants to employ the ball for military purposes, and a massive battle breaks out over the skies of London. As both parties wage war for ultimate possession of his grandfather's concentrated steam power, Ray must decide who—if anyone—he will help save the day, knowing that a wrong choice may seal the fate of humanity forever.
An underinflated story
Borrowing pages from such disparate influences as David Fincher, Robert Louis Stevenson and anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki, acclaimed director Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) creates a new kind of animated world that most audiences have never seen—one in which the future and the past collide with simultaneous fits of realism and fantasy, fusing scientific know-how with flights of fancy to generate a truly original vision, with the images to accompany it. That said, however, Steamboy is a perfect example of a recent trend in animated films in which the question must be asked why something was created rather than whether it was ever possible to do so.
Mind you, the film certainly looks terrific; from the opening sequence where the steam ball is created to the climactic steam castle showdown, there are images rendered that will stay with you long after the film ends. Unfortunately, so too will much of the story, which is unnecessarily convoluted and yet feels only more so after the umpteenth spout of expository dialogue. One would like to assume such storytelling shortcomings are a byproduct of cultural differences (such as language barriers, etc.), but it nonetheless engenders the audience's impatience and persists until long after plotting is even necessary.
Reports for crossover films like these always portend that the American voice talents are enormous fans of the director's earlier works, and they thrill at the chance to participate in animated movies where toy commercials aren't the exclusive result of their labors. Watching, or, more accurately, listening to the performances, however, one can only imagine how they were directed while recording their dialogue; regardless of Paquin, Stewart and Molina's respective histories as voice-over performers, they sound as if they've been assigned a specific rhythm rather than an emotional timbre to follow, and are virtually indistinguishable from one another (except, of course, by virtue of pitch).
Paquin, who has the thankless job of playing a boy, sounds positively ambiguous as Ray, and fails even to evoke a quasi-accurate rendition of her native New Zealand lilt; perhaps her years of playing Yanks has colored her accent, but rebounding from this film's Brit-by-way-of-Japan brogue, she only comes across as shrill. Ultimately, the film evokes the same overall sensation—namely, that it's a calculated and uninspired rendition of something that should feel natural and ebullient. But that's why Steamboy disappoints: It fizzles out just when it should be blowing up.
