Astro Boy (2009)

just watch it!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

*Possible Spoilers* With its emphasis on recyclable cuteness, reusable cleverness, and regenerated CG wizardry, I would never go so far as to say that I hated Astro Boy - But, then again, I could never, ever say that I loved it, either.If you were to actually take the time to watch the original, 2-D Astro Boy cartoons from the mid-1960s, I'm sure, like myself, that you'd most likely find them to be much more entertaining and, yes, even more thoughtful then this senseless rehashing of the tale of a wide-eyed, pointy-haired, robot boy who (under the surface of his apparent innocence) was essentially a lethal, all-powerful, one-man, destructo-machine that was not to be challenged or provoked into action.It really made no sense to me why, after the real Toby Tenma was killed (due partly to his dad's own inability to protect him), Toby's father, the master scientist, Dr. Tenma, in wanting to re-create his now-dead son, decided to add all of the elaborately designed, over-the-top weaponry, and such, to this pint-sized, mechanical boy.And, after Dr. Tenma got his beloved boy back (thanks to Blue Core radiation), he then wastes no time in rejecting this fabulous creation of his as though it were nothing but a piece of disposable trash.Amongst all of the many explosions and scenes of mass destruction that took place in this pretentiously innocent, little movie it, pretty much, contained every robot/superhero movie-cliché in the book, and then some.On top of that, I found Astro Boy's story borrowed heavily from the basic themes of other films such as - Wall-E, The Iron Giant, David & Goliath, Peter Pan, Frankenstein, Transformers, and The Incredibles - to name but a few.And, so, when you take all of this apparent lifting of ideas into consideration, there was virtually nothing new or original to be found in the entirety of Astro Boy's recycled and predictable story.This film reached the absolute nadir of its intended humor when, in the middle of battle, Astro Boy bent over, forwards, only to find, to his astonishment (and my puzzlement) two miniature-sized, retracting machine guns projecting from out of his butt.Ho-Hum! Like, give me a break, already! Was Toby's crackpot, scientist father really that much of a major moron as to make his replicated son's butt cheeks lethal weapons? I mean, that, to me, was just so unfunny and moronic that it managed to reduce Astro Boy to the level of being nothing but a big cannon for stupid fart jokes.And, finally - I found it really irksome that the pointy-ness of Astro Boy's hair kept changing sides on his head whenever he appeared in another scene.

Since I had watched all of the animated classics of this character, it seemed only fair that I should watch the 3D CGI movie that was created in 2009. I seem to remember the build up for this first feature length film starring the famous Speedo wearing hero was astronomical, fans everywhere were going ballistic, and judging by the trailers and other promotional activity, I wasn't surprised. This also made me rather curious as to what the outcome would be, and surprisingly, I wasn't really disappointed in what I saw. As a non-fan but general viewer, I saw the film as quite a quirky and enjoyable little film which did seem quite close to the story that I had observed in the original shows. Usually, films with large amounts of promotion often end in tragedy at the box office, washing up with a Commercial Success, but a Critical Failure. The all star voice acting cast was fantastic, including Nicholas Cage as the grief stricken Dr Tenma and Donald Sutherland as the power crazy President. It managed also to combine an interesting story between relations between robots and humans without treading too deeply into the more morose and prejudice side of things. Many fans I knew were quite disappointed with this film mainly because of the fact that Toby Tenma wasn't killed in a traffic accident but instead was killed by a killer robot and that during battle his clothes weren't ripped off like in the original series. And to be honest, that's something I wasn't exactly in the mood to see because I'm not some kind of pervert who likes to see little boy's clothes ripped off, even if he is still wearing Speedos. But at least they kept the Butt Cannon's, which I'm sure they just about got away with when it comes to British and American Censors. Apart from those few trivial points, I think this film is quite an enjoyable little treat for any one who is or isn't a fan of the show. I'd recommend it to children just as much as I would to adults!

Based on a manga by the late Osamu Tezuka, this US version of Astro Boy only takes cursory hint from the original story, and reinvents the entire story.Dr. Tenma loses his son Tobi, and to substitute for the loss, creates the robot Astro Boy in the image of his late son.First, the image of this movie is very dark. I see this frequently in 3D animation. I guess it's to hide some weakness that's yet to be overcome in this technology, but this makes things look creepy. A movie that's targeted (I believe) for young audience looks like horror movie in its visuals. Second, the charm that was there in the original Astro Boy saga has been totally stripped away in this Hollywood version. It's increased "reality" is in the wrong direction, and slowed the story down considerably. This often happens in movies translated from original comics (Like Marvel's Fantastic Four). The original manga had lot more speed, and brilliance to the story. It's recommended that Tezuka's manga be read, and '60s TV anime series seen before seeing this movie. '60s anime series was supervised by Tezuka himself, and there were lot more emotion, and action to Astro Boy's character. People surrounding Astro Boy were lot more "human" as well. Even the more recent TV anime series had better pace than this movie.So not a very good translation from the original material, and is not recommended for viewing.

Based on the Manga by Osamu Tezuka, this film tells the story of how Astro Boy was made and how he saved the residents of his home. I'll admit I haven't read the Manga or seen any of the TV series based on it made in the 1960's. It's quite a witty and interesting tale with quite a bit of drama thrown in for good measure. But more of my thoughts later, here's a brief summary first (summary haters and those who don't wish to know anything about the plot please sort out that pile of robot parts over there while I write the next paragraph).NOTE: There is what may be a spoiler to some in this summary… You have been warned! Toby lives in Metro City which floats in the sky above the Earth, which is polluted and not a great place to be. The people there are waited on hand and foot by robots that are the invention of Toby's father, Dr. Tenma. He is working alongside his friend Dr. Elefun on a project for President Stone called Peacemaker, a giant fighting robot. Toby, wanting to see the demonstration goes to the Ministry of Science and sneaks into the testing room. When the demonstration goes wrong the robot goes berserk and Toby is killed. Grief stricken, his father builds a robot that looks like Toby and, using his DNA, gives it all of his memories too. It is brought to life by a special power source that is thought to be only for good. Eventually the robot Toby finds himself down on the Earth's surface where he meets new friends and has some great adventures… I've probably said too much, but that will do for now.There are elements of other films in this one; in particular I found many similarities to Steven Spielberg's 2001 film, A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Having said that, it is quite entertaining and there is a lot of humour both in the dialogue and some great sight gags too. The performances were OK, but it is hard to judge from a voice, so honourable mentions go to the voice talents of; Freddie Highmore as Astro/Toby, Nicolas Cage as Dr. Tenma, Donald Sutherland as President Stone, Bill Nighy as Dr. Elefun/Robotsky and Kristen Bell as Cora.I don't dislike this film; in fact there is a lot to like about it. It asks a lot of its audience and as such I found it quite strange to watch. On one hand it's an animated film aimed at kids, with lots of jokes and plenty of adventure. But on the other hand it has a much darker story about a man losing his child and trying to replace him with a robot. But at the end of the day it's an entertaining watch and so… Recommended.My score: 6.4/10