breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com
Before Astro Boy was ever released in theatres, it used to be a television show that aired in Japan. And just like any other television show, sooner or later it turned into a movie. Thankfully, Astro Boy wasn't filmed in live-action. Who knows how that could've turned out. What we do know from past experiences, is that live-action cartoon adaptations have high failure probability. This is not always true, but for the majority, it is.Astro Boy is the story of an ordinary child who is turned into a cybernetic organism from his science-whiz father. Freddie Highmore plays the character of Astro Boy and his voice doesn't sound out of place so that's a plus. Dr. Tenma is Astro Boy's father and he is voiced by Nicolas Cage. It's an interesting choice actually because it's believable. But if listened to close enough, one can imagine Cage talking into the microphone. Same goes for the villain, President Stone, who is voiced by Donald Sutherland. In general, the cast is great but it's funny how practically none of them changed how they spoke.The animation in this film is also a treat to look at. Much of the objects are round and have lots of curves and swoops. Even some of the characters are funny looking. Dr. Tenma's assistant has a clown nose! What's also good looking are the colors and the architecture of the buildings and machines. Because this is a futuristic world, there are all sorts of sparkly new gadgets. Not to mention, Astro Boy's gadgets will add to the spectacle of the film.As for the plot goes, it's a mix of ideas. The are two movies I can make a clear connection to. The first is I, Robot (2004), because whenever a robot was not needed, it would be banished from the land, where it would rust with all its other counterparts before it. The other movie that's similar to this is Demolition Man (1993). There are two places to live, paradise and poverty. Both films share these ideas. And this is the component that I found unoriginal. Also at the beginning of the film was depressing because Dr. Tenma didn't pay attention to his son and later on abandoned him (temporarily). This can make the audience wonder, "Is this really for children". But as the film approaches its finale, it brings back its jolly nature.The plot is unoriginal and it may seem upsetting for the beginning of the film but in the end, it will please its fans. Making Astro Boy even more enjoyable is the voice cast and colorful visuals.
dunmore_ego
The points in his hair are as iconic as Mickey Mouse's ears; they exist in their own reality, where they are always seen, no matter the angle of his head! It's ASTRO BOY, Osamu Tezuka's manga creation from the 1950s. Cartooned in the 1960s in Japan, then re-cartooned in the '80s (remember those cute cartoons with his big pointy head and bigger eyes, where they couldn't even synch the "Oouah!" exclamation - over a mouth position that looked like "Oouah!"?); now re-rendered in CG animation - where Astro's spikes must necessarily migrate from one side of his head to the other in different shots so we can still always see them. (These things affect me; what can I say?) The cartoon was cuter because his head was bigger. Still, ASTRO BOY has a lot of heart; it's an adult cartoon clothed in tiny metal undies and yeti boots.Young Brit Freddie Highmore voices the 2009 Astro, speaking with an American accent - but isn't Astro (aka "Tetsuwan Atomu," "Iron Arm Atom") Japanese? He was styled like a 10-year-old boy in the cartoons, but here, Astro is definitely at an older age of latent lust, so that he can tent his metal undies in the direction of tween Cora (voiced by Kristen Bell, whose spinner blondness surely deserves tenting ovations, if it weren't for Astro being a robot whose man-apparatus, we suspect, is non-existent). Onward...Like a junior version of FRANKENSTEIN meets PET SEMATARY, Astro starts as a human boy named Toby, who is disintegrated in a lab experiment. Very gruesome. In the throes of despair, Toby's scientist father, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) recreates his son as a robot, implanting all Toby's memories and breathing life into his creation with an inexplicable "blue energy life force." Tenma ultimately rejects the robot boy for reminding him of his lost son (uh, I thought that was the idea) in a sad scene, that also raises questions about artificial intelligence.How do we discern between true emotion and "programmed" emotion? Toby loves Tenma as a father because Tenma programmed Toby that way. Though aren't we all "programmed" from youth with principles, fears, insecurities, and a love for yeti boots? What is "love" from a child toward its parents except devotion/gratitude for sustenance and protection? But Tenma wants "real love" from the young automaton - whatever that is - not programmed love.The themes are deep, and rife for endless discussion, over resurrection (for Christies), anatta (for Buddhies), soul transmigration (for Hindies) and katra (for Vulcans).But to keep it light (for kiddies), light up those yeti boots and let's punch some evil robots! Astro lives on Metro City, floating above Earth, the Metro government dumping their garbage on Earth's surface. After discovering his super powers (flight, super strength, power rays - and butt guns! Now I get it: Ass-tro Boy!), a chase scene leaves Astro stranded and an exile on Earth's surface, where he meets Cora and her outlaw gang of kids - and a dog-bot named Trashcan who reminds us of R2-D2. As Astro must go through adversity trying to regain his home and father, movie takes on shades of Pinocchio. Ironically, Astro also gets wood for Cora.Bill Nighy voices big-nosed Dr. Elephun; Eugene Levy is a stooping, flustered butler robot; Nathan Lane is Hamegg, the robot-gladiator pimp, who looks exactly like Nathan Lane.Matt Lucas (LITTLE Britain) is Sparx, heading a trio of British robots (The Robot Revolutionary Front) who have been watching too much Python. Very interesting that the robots of this world are acquainted with Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.Donald Sutherland is the evil president of Metro City, whose campaign slogan is, "It's Not Time For Change" (obviously styled after John Boehner), who is subsumed by the giant evil robot whose life force is the "red energy." (Get it? Blue, good, democrats; red, evil, Republicans.)Astro proves his worth as an all-round effeminate nice guy by battling robots and doing good deeds (he even holds up the whole of Metro City, which makes him pretty much as strong as Superman), but this movie's mettle is revealed when Astro is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice - and he never flinches - as he goes Shirtless Kirk in his death plunge into the heart of the evil Republican robot. The mark of a true hero, the likes of which senile coward John McCain could never fathom.Even though everyone treats Astro like a unique creation, his father should have Astro's master files somewhere, so if Astro "dies" it should not be too much of a task to download another Toby robot. At least, not as hard as getting a Republican to stop lying. And the "blue energy" that makes Astro kind and strong and metrosexual is also merely a matter of technology. (Astro's sacrifice is diluted if we realize this, so they treat him as a one-off, almost as if he has become a Real Boy at the climax... cough--Pinocchio--cough.) Movie trips over its feet when Tenma reconciles with Astro at the end, "You may not be Toby, but you're still my son." Shouldn't that be "You may not be my son" (they are not bound in blood) "but you're still Toby" (Toby's programs are swirling Astro's master processing unit)? Who's laughing now, Carlo Collodi?
filiplisa
I would agree and say that this is a great movie for kids and older people who have not been into Astro Boy before, but if you are going to see it and you are already a crazed fan like I am, you probably don't want to. Its like if you were reading a book and then they made a movie out of it and left half of the book's most important scenes or characters out. As a cartoon/manga series, Astro Boy was the same concept as "Pinocchio", but with a huge plot twist that included Dr. Tenma losing his mind. In this movie, Tenma seems to keep his sanity- he doesn't build "evil" robots and sent them after Astro/Atom in order to make him grow stronger, and he doesn't try to "kidnap" Atom in any way or form back from Dr. Teawater/Elefun. In fact, Atom doesn't even get "adopted" by Dr. Teawater OR get new robot parents. In short, shortening the adventurous tale of a young boy robot and the tragedy between him and his father was crushed in this movie.
