Astro Boy Reviews

When I was a kid, I used to watch the ‘Astro Boy’ cartoon and while I wasn’t a huge fan, I was always fascinated by the introduction when you saw this little robot come to life. Unsurprisingly, they decided to adapt this cartoon and since the animated market is rather saturated, it was pretty much a flop. Still, there were some interesting things in this flick and there was some darkness rather unexpected in such a familly friendly. Indeed, during the first half hour, it was pretty much a mix of ‘Artificial Intelligence: AI’ and above all ‘Frankenstein’. It was quite striking and almost unsettling the way Dr Tenma try to resurrect his lost boy through this robot and his rejection of this little robot was also quite heartbreaking. Since ‘Up’, I had never seen such a dark introduction but the makers didn’t care much about all this and threw us not one but two rather underwhelming plots. Indeed, there is first the evil and boring President Stone who desperately wants to be re-elected and another story involving the people downstairs in the slums (which shows once again that ‘Elysium’ was seriously not original whatsoever). Honestly, I thought I was watching maybe 3 movies crammed into one and I wish they focus on the whole ‘Pinocchio’ tale instead. To conclude, even though it was flawed, the whole thing looked pretty good, there was something really interesting about this main character and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

"What? I got machine guns... in my butt?"

As a kid, I was a big fan of the Astro Boy anime series. It had action and cool robot characters - it was all great fun. Many years after the original series, a 3D animated feature film of the anime was to be made, and unlike most, I wasn't annoyed about it. I thought it could actually work. Directed by David Bowers, Astro Boy has a lot going for it. There's a great voice cast, pretty animation, and exceptional robotic battles. The issue is that this just feels extremely lame. I can't bring myself to hate Astro Boy, but I still have to say it is very flawed family film. For children, the lame screenplay can be ignored due to the flashy look of the film, but adults I doubt will enjoy the film as much.



In the futuristic Metro City, robots serve humans to make their everyday duties a lot easier. When the son of scientist Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) dies tragically in an experiment gone wrong, he assembles a robot to replace his son. The robot (voiced by Freddie Highmore) has the same appearance and voice as Tenma's son, but he soon starts regretting the creation of this machine. He rejects it just as it starts discovering its robotic powers of flight and strength. Having no where else to go, the robot ventures to The Surface, the outskirts of Metro City, where it is given the name Astro. Meanwhile, the power-hungry President Stone (Donald Sutherland), is after Astro so he can attain the powerful 'Blue Core', Astro's power source.



Written by Bowers and co-writer Timothy Harris, the screenplay doesn't stay as true to the original story as die-hard fans would like. This didn't particularly bother me as much, as it appeared as if Bowers was trying to introduce this whole story to an audience who have never heard of Astro Boy. The screenplay is is very much the reason why I think the film doesn't work as pure family movie. Everything, from the characters, the dialogue, and the humour, feels extremely sophomoric. There are small moments throughout the film that feature strong comedic writing, but overall, much of the film's content ends up being really 'kiddy'. The political aspect of Astro Boy could've been expanded more, as that might've given older audiences something interesting to watch, but there's not much exploration into President Stone's motives and power, although he is an effective villain - you really hate the guy. There are touching moments between Astro and Tenma - the father-son conflict is quite moving, but the children Astro meets on The Surface are extremely annoying. While they serve as a way to hint at a family-type role, as mentioned earlier, these characters are simply too lame for adults to really care about them. However, children will no doubt be able to relate to them.

Metro City is actually levitating - it's a floating city. The Surface is pretty much the Earth it floats over. There is huge conflict between these two factions, but we're never given a look into why this is the case. President Stone hates The Surface due to some re-election he's got coming towards him, yet we never know why. There could've been a lot of explore with this theme, along with the idea that robots aren't just machines. There's actually a lot of untapped potential here, and it could've given Astro Boy some depth into being a film for all ages. Also, it never ventures into a somewhat darker tone. Even in the original source material (manga and anime), a dark tone would be adopted. This doesn't happen at all with the feature film, and the ending is way too abrupt for my taste.



In terms of the voice cast, Bowers has actually assembled a list of well-known actors. Freddie Highmore as Astro is decent enough, although his kiddy persona does get irritating from time to time. He's trying at least, which can't be said for Nicolas Cage as Tenma. I could recognise his voice so easily, and it felt like he wasn't even trying with his voice acting. The same can be said for Bill Nighy as Tenma's colleague Professor Elefun, who doesn't seem to care about this project and how he delivers his lines. Still, while both of them don't add a lot to their roles, it didn't bother me tremendously. Charlize Theron (I have no idea why she's in this) is given the smallest role imaginable. She's the narrator for an educational video about robots shown to children at the start of the film. Yes, I wish she had a bigger part in the film, but she adopted a nice friendly tone to her voice. I really liked her in this. Donald Sutherland is actually pretty great as the villain, gathering that mean spirited persona we've seen him deliver countless times.

The animation may be the strongest part of Astro Boy. Bowers has a lot of experience with animation work, and his 3D animation is terrific. The film actually features a 2D section as well - the educational video Theron narrates at the start is actually animated in the old two-dimensional style. The 3D work may not be the most impressive thing you've ever seen, it's a competent conversion from the 2D look of the anime and manga. Astro looks how he looked in the original material, and Metro City itself looks wondrous. There's an adorable quality to the look of the film, and it may add some value to older audiences. The action is also entertaining, and there are slight moments where Bowers will make fun of Astro's certain abilities (machine guns on his butt). The final battle sequence will have kids cheering for more. Edited well, the film's pacing is brisk and perfect for this kind of film, and the score by John Ottman is fitting as well.



Astro Boy is simply a kids movie. I really don't think there's a lot of value here for adults, although sadly, there could've been. This could've been a great family film, but it ends up being kiddy and lame to be honest. Still, I enjoyed Astro Boy. I doubt I'll watch it ever again, but if I have kids over, it's a decent way to entertain them. It's one of those films that you know your kids will enjoy - just show it to them, and go to the backyard for a beer if you really don't want to see it.

Note: I know nothing about Astro Boy apart from this movie.

I hereby accuse this movie of various villainies and crimes. Astro Boy rips off various other films, is filled with cliches, there's an abundance of plot holes, and enough cop-outs to go around. This movie is a blundered mess. My main problem; it's an enjoyable blundered mess.

Astro Boy is about a child named Toby Tenma (Freddie Highmore). He's a robot genius, like his father, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage). During an unfortunate robot malfunction, Toby perishes in an explosion. Dr. Tenma is greatly saddened by this loss, so he uses his son's DNA to create an exact robot replica, and when the boy awakes, Dr. Tenma never tells Toby about his transformation. However, some critical changes have occured. In fact, this "Astro Boy," turns out to be even smarter than before (an impressive feat). But he doesn't just improve academically. Astro Boy slowly discovers his various new abilities. He can withstand serious damage and high falls, and has the ability to fly. But Astro Boy just isn't the same as Toby, and Dr. Tenma just can't find it in his heart to love the robot.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first half hour of this film. The animation, though simple, is gorgeous and slick. The story line was going pretty well, too. There was a pretty generous amount of humor, even. I felt like I might actually enjoy myself, contradicting my thoughts about the flick before viewing.

Unfortunately, the film went downhill from there. It wasn't a significant drop at first. The next half hour held up pretty well, but it was bombarded with cliches and unsucessful attempts at plot twists. This second half hour was arguably funnier than the first, but there were also way more jokes that ended up being stale, and recycled. I also started noticing various rip-offs of other flicks here. I had already spotted a couple in the first half hour, but there were significantly more here.

Finally, we come to the grand finale, where we get countless cop outs, rip-offs, cheesy lines, dumb jokes, cliches, and guess-before-it-happens moments. This also includes a completely random and undeveloped change in Dr. Tenma's character, and a boring and utterly stupid climatic duel between Astro Boy and the Peace Keeper, an evil robot charged with negative energy (both literally and metaphorically). Worse, there were tons of scenes in this last half-hour that had the potential to turn the film around, and make into the grand piece of cinematic entertainment I wanted it to be, but never had the guts to try.

Plus, throughout the film, there are gaps in the story, dozens of characters with no personality that make stale jokes, and the movie just moves too fast. Even the score is relatively bland.

The film really isn't as bad as I'm making it sound. It's got a lot to love, and there's definitely a few things that make the film worth watching. I'm just disappointed with the final product. It could've been much better. It should've been much better. Astro Boy could've been a masterpiece, but in the end, it just settles for being mediocre.