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René Walling · From fps #2 · May 1, 2005 | I remember my reaction years ago when I first saw an Akira poster hanging in the lobby of my local repertory cinema: a friend of mine and I just kept saying (well, okay, screaming worshipfully) "Akira!!! Akira!!! Akira!!!" over and over again, much to the bemusement of witnesses who had no clue who or what Akira was. And, after an exciting movie experience, we all wondered what Otomo would come up with next.

Steamboy Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo Sony Pictures Entertainment, 2005 126 minutes Shop for Steamboy DVDs and more: Amazon.ca Amazon.com AllPosters.com

Turns out we had to hang on quite a while to find out, and, much like Star Wars, the long wait for Steamboy has dulled the anticipation a bit. Or maybe it's the fact that I don't have 2,000 pages of manga to whet my appetite, or that theatrical releases of anime are relatively common these days, or maybe I'm just getting older. In any case, while my excitement was more contained, I still expected something out of the ordinary from Steamboy. And, in many ways, the film delivers: the images are beautiful, the effects astounding and the action almost non-stop.

Want to read the rest of this review?

You'll find it and many other articles in the May 2005 issue of fps, available as a free download.