The Genre: science fiction

The Format: DVD

The plot: Ray Steam is a young boy following in the footsteps of his father, Eddy , and grandfather, Lloyd, scientists dedicated to advancing technology through the use of steam. When Lloyd invents a steam ball that has unheard-of possibilities, everyone wants it--world leaders, wealthy industrialists, and even the government--but most of them want it for evil purposes. And so it is up to Ray to protect the fate of the earth while also choosing between his father and grandfather.

I've always loved steam punk.

Steampunk is similar to cyberpunk, which I think people are more familiar with. The basic idea of cyberpunk is encapsulated in the name - cyber referring to the high tech and punk referring to low-life.

In other words, cyberpunk looked at futuristic technology, but did so at the street level. It tended to feature hackers and criminals who had an intimate understanding and ability with technology pitched against huge corporations.

The Matrix has a bit of a cyberpunk feel, though something like Blade Runner is probably one of the best examples. It features advanced technology, like clones, but involves lots of running around in the grimy streets.

I generally like to think of steampunk as something like cyberpunk if it had happened in the Victorian era. There is a big difference, though - cyberpunk tends to be quite dystopian in nature, where steam punk is often quite optimistic in feel.

Steamboy is very much planted in this type of world, although it doesn't go to so much trouble in explaining quite how the world got to that state. Specifically, it's set in the run up to the Great Exhibition of 1851 in an alternate reality, with it's climax occurring on the opening day of Crystal Palace.

The steamboy of the title is Ray Steam, who is the youngest of a family of what could basically be called mad scientists. Actually think of the great Victorian engineers - Stephenson, Brunel - and mix in a bit of the traditional mad scientist and that's basically the Steam family.

The story actually kicks off because the elder steams have managed to invent something called a steamball, which, although it's never quite explained properly, seems to represent a kind of high-voltage battery crossed with a super-charger. It can apparently store steam and also achieve phenomenal pressure.

Ray's father, Eddy, injured in an accident where he and Ray's grandfather, Lloyd, were developing the steamball, goes off the deep-end a little and wants to use the steamball's phenomenal power to power something called the steam castle.

The steam castle is a huge weapon of war and is being developed by Eddy for the O'Hara foundation - the head's daughter, Scarlett is aboard and is of a similar age to Ray. The O'Hara foundation appears to be something akin to an international arms dealership that's willing to sell to anyone who can pay.

This then forms a sub-plot because their intentions could cause the world's balance of power to shift away from the British Empire, which, slightly incongruously, brings in Robert Stephenson. Although it isn't stated, it's clear this is supposed to be roughly the real life Robert Stephenson of The Rocket fame, but in a more militaristic position.

I don't normally do plot summaries like that, but I thought it was important here to illustrate a particular point - the above sounds quite good, doesn't it?

It sounds like a ripping adventure with a bit of a social message, right? Well it sounds good, but to be totally honest it never really seems to quite live up to the potential of the ideas.

Don't get me wrong - there's plenty to like about the film. The animation is superb and the soundtrack is quite good, for example. Unfortunately the DVD was dub only, but the dub featured a host of well known names, including Patrick Stewart, so I wasn't too bothered about that.

No, what hampers it is the plotting. The pace seems wrong, and there are quite a few little inconsistencies and oddities that niggle at you, spoiling your enjoyment.

He's doing it simply because he's a good person, and to be frank that's a weaker motive.

Another example is a letter that Ray writes to his mother. Basically he writes her a letter and then Scarlett mentions its contents to him, which she could only have seen by opening it and reading it.

But he doesn't get angry at this. Instead he asks his father and he says something to the effect that he sent Ray's letter and that he's been sending letters himself.

And that's it. It's not really clear if Eddy is lying, or Scarlett stole the letter or what. But importantly, Ray doesn't really seem to care either way, so all you're ending up with is just some random weird bit that doesn't make sense.

Which is the problem of the film generally - the ideas are good, the production is sumptuous, but too many bits either don't make sense or aren't handled in an effective manner, and it spoils the film overall.

The Summary: Steam punk gets a lavish production, it's a shame that the story isn't on a similar par.

The Score: 3/5

The Pictures:

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