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Was Stemboy boring to you?
- Thread starter Lil' Dice
- Start date
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themadcowtipper
Smells faintly of rancid stilton.
It starts off well and is really Great to look at, but the entertainment factor drops off quick...
It looks terrific at the start, but I couldn't finish it. It just got too stupid at the end. Ultra-steam. Steam city. Steam armor. Hand-held steam rocket. Stupid rich bitch. Greedy executive. Crazy dad. Crazier grandpa.Lil' Dice said:
Ya pretty much after the steam city transformed I turned it off. This is the Wild Wild West of anime with no Hayek booty.
Uncle Dukey
Member
Wow, it took over 10 years?
It looked nice, but that couldn't make up for the fact that it was pretty dull.
It looked nice, but that couldn't make up for the fact that it was pretty dull.
Yup. Great animation, seamless 2D/3D integration... BORING plot with terrible pacing. I was expecting something more like the Rocketeer, but Steamboy only gets ahold of a jetpack for like the last 15 minutes. And why the Hell was every character kowtowing to that annoying little brat girl?
Also, I had no idea that the hero was voiced by Anna Paquin until the ending credits...
Also, I had no idea that the hero was voiced by Anna Paquin until the ending credits...
themadcowtipper
Smells faintly of rancid stilton.
So is the Director's cut any better or more of the same....
advancegrant
Member
I liked the movie - slow at parts - but it was still good.
Kumiko Nikaido
Vindication...sweet.
The film was ok, but the plot was cliched up the wazoo.
And the last 20 minutes of the movie was just cumbersome shot after shot of explosions, steam, and debris falling all over the place. Ugh.
And the last 20 minutes of the movie was just cumbersome shot after shot of explosions, steam, and debris falling all over the place. Ugh.
D
Deleted member 4784
Unconfirmed Member
I agree that Steamboy was pretty boring. I think that too much time/focus was spent on making it "pretty" than on developing the plot or characters much. I just had no real attachment to them and found them all annoying (except for the little robot guy :lol ). What's sad is that a lot of comparisons were made between this and Akira, but it hardly lived up to that kind of buildup or hype. The pacing just made the plot/movie all the more worse.
Tokyo Godfathers was just as impressive a display of what can be done with anime now using computers and it actually had a good plot and characters all around. I really liked that movie. Steamboy I just kept wanting to end already. =p
Tokyo Godfathers was just as impressive a display of what can be done with anime now using computers and it actually had a good plot and characters all around. I really liked that movie. Steamboy I just kept wanting to end already. =p
I would've liked it a lot more if they cut out at least 30 minutes of it... that said, the movie started to drag, especially at the end. But the visuals were lovely, especially the old Victorian-style environments; that's not something that you see every day in anime...
ThirstyFly
Member
I've been growing tired of anime for a while now and the only shows I've managed to keep up with lately are Ippo/Fighting Spirit on DVD (already seen it fansubbed though) and One Piece, but I picked up Steamboy since I'm an Otomo whore and watched it last night.
It really reminded me of why I got into anime in the first place. It was a great change of pace from Disney style plots, cartoons with musical numbers, or Pixar's someone getting lost storylines. Not to mention the fact that even in today's world of digital actors and CG sets, there's no way Steamboy could have been done in live action and been as convincing.
I have a few small gripes with it though. Whenever Ray and Scarlett were together I couldn't get over how much it was like Shinji & Asuka's characters/relationship from Evangelion and Ray himself could have used a little more depth as well. The last 45 minutes or so was a little bit high on the visual overload scale, so I could see how that turned people off, but I loved it.
The Collector's Editon box set is a bit of a rip though, if anyone is wondering what to get, get the normal edition. They didn't even translate the manga it comes with.
It really reminded me of why I got into anime in the first place. It was a great change of pace from Disney style plots, cartoons with musical numbers, or Pixar's someone getting lost storylines. Not to mention the fact that even in today's world of digital actors and CG sets, there's no way Steamboy could have been done in live action and been as convincing.
I have a few small gripes with it though. Whenever Ray and Scarlett were together I couldn't get over how much it was like Shinji & Asuka's characters/relationship from Evangelion and Ray himself could have used a little more depth as well. The last 45 minutes or so was a little bit high on the visual overload scale, so I could see how that turned people off, but I loved it.
The Collector's Editon box set is a bit of a rip though, if anyone is wondering what to get, get the normal edition. They didn't even translate the manga it comes with.
FortNinety
Member
I found the film so boring that the beautiful animation felt like a totally wasted effort in the end. Easily the biggest disappoint for me all year.
I watched this last night, and I'm surprised at the generally negative reaction in this thread. I though it was one of the smartest animated films I've seen in a long time, not to mention the stunning visual style.
The genius thing about the writing is the way in which it took a geopolitical environment that's more characteristic of World War II (in which corporations were driving forces behind military conflicts in addition to nation-states) and transposed it onto Victorian England. The most interesting aspect of the film for me was watching Ray get increasingly involved in a debate about whether engineering advancements and scientific research are corrupted when they're supported by government or corporate interests. The film doesn't take sides either, or pretend to offer an easy answer--it didn't portray Ray's father or grandfather (who take opposite sides in the debate) as either completely good or completely evil. They both had their character flaws as well as their good points.
For that reason, the whole sequence that began with Ray getting kidnapped and ended with the mayhem at the London exhibition was the best part of the film for me. I started to lose interest during the last 20 minutes or so, when the film drifted away from dialogue and toward pure spectacle and action, but even then the animation was beautiful.
Steamboy reminded me more of Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow than anything else (with the steamball playing the same role of a technological McGuffin that the Rocket plays in Pynchon's book). I wish the ending were a little bit shorter, but I'll be going back to visit that movie a few more times, I think.
The genius thing about the writing is the way in which it took a geopolitical environment that's more characteristic of World War II (in which corporations were driving forces behind military conflicts in addition to nation-states) and transposed it onto Victorian England. The most interesting aspect of the film for me was watching Ray get increasingly involved in a debate about whether engineering advancements and scientific research are corrupted when they're supported by government or corporate interests. The film doesn't take sides either, or pretend to offer an easy answer--it didn't portray Ray's father or grandfather (who take opposite sides in the debate) as either completely good or completely evil. They both had their character flaws as well as their good points.
For that reason, the whole sequence that began with Ray getting kidnapped and ended with the mayhem at the London exhibition was the best part of the film for me. I started to lose interest during the last 20 minutes or so, when the film drifted away from dialogue and toward pure spectacle and action, but even then the animation was beautiful.
Steamboy reminded me more of Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow than anything else (with the steamball playing the same role of a technological McGuffin that the Rocket plays in Pynchon's book). I wish the ending were a little bit shorter, but I'll be going back to visit that movie a few more times, I think.
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