Astro Boy
Astro Boy
PG | 23 October 2009 (USA)
Astro Boy Trailers

Set in the futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy (Atom) is a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he had lost. Unable to fulfill his creator's expectations, Astro embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before returning to save Metro City and reconcile with the father who rejected him.

Reviews
ChikPapa

Very disappointed :(

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SpuffyWeb

Sadly Over-hyped

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Erica Derrick

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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Staci Frederick

Blistering performances.

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catholiccontriversy

I like the Astro Boy series (60s, 80s, and 00s), all of which are a little different from each other, but with a lot of the same heart. So when I watched the movie, well it left me feeling a bit...weird.Now a lot of people like to complain about the voice acting, and character designs, and the art and animation style. I don't have any problem with those things though. The character designs are faithful to the source material, but with it's own CGI twist; just like each series had it's own little art twist based on the capabilities and budget at the time. Each series also had it's own voice actors, and the VAs in this movie did a good job at bringing their character's life.With that being said, this is like a 10 act story, with a couple acts cut out. There's the establishing act with Toby's death and Astro being created; the next act is Tenma trying to use Astro to replace Toby, but then finding that he can't so easily replace his dead son; the next act follows Astro making friends and trying to come to find his place in the world (robot or human), only to have the world (the surface) kind of reject who he is and instead thrust their own idea of who he should be onto him; and then we just jump to the final act where the villain's monster becomes too powerful and now Astro has to save the day (which has many "self discovery of powers" elements that should be reserved for middle "figure out your powers" act, not "final climax battle").If you ask me, this should have been a TV series. It has all the potential to be another great incarnation of Astro Boy; Astro Boy origin, figuring out how Astro fits into the world, and characters that have a lot of potential. Unfortunately, a lot of elements that should have gotten their own episode (metro city's trash culture, the robot resistance, the girl's parents, Astro pretending to be human with the surface dwellers, the robot games, fixing up ZOG, competing in the robot games and his new friends coming to grips with what he is, the government trying to shut him down, why the president wants to harness the power of the red/blue core, etc.) were just kind of rushed through.I enjoy the movie, but I just feel wanting more.

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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.

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Mark Downing

This movie is by far one of the best I've seen in recent months - and one of the best animated ones I have seen in my entire lifetime. The story was both captivating and endearing, full of sacrifice and friendship, following the tragic death of Toby Tenma. What may have seemed a simple "replacement" for his son turned out to be far more than that; a kind and loving boy that would capture the hearts of many for his selfless acts. I thought this film had excellent voice acting, especially that provided by Freddie Highmore, but most deserve credit for the job they did. The film achieved a great balance of action and adventure. Humour was also present throughout, and I found President Stone (voiced by Donald Sutherland) especially quirky, like an evil genius of sorts... only not a genius.The animations were aesthetically pleasing, especially during the battle scenes which I found especially satisfying. Watching Toby become more adept with his new-found skills was also a fun experience, especially some of the hidden weapons he found available in his arsenal!The only problem I encountered for this film was the ending - a random alien attack? What is all that about? I thought it would have been better to end it before then, unless they plan on making a sequel to this film.All in all, I thought this was an outstanding animated film and, although not quite as good as others in the field such as Wall-E, this is still a great movie for kids and one I would highly recommend watching.

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Roland E. Zwick

Among recent animated features, "Astro Boy" can seem a bit like the runt of the litter – but like most runts, it has a kind of underdog charm that makes one want to root for it. This is particularly the case since the series – which debuted on American television in 1963 – was an important forerunner of Japanese anime, an art form that would come to its fullest flower a few decades later.Now fully clothed and bathed in sparkling CGI color, this modern version of Astro Boy is, like his more primitive cell-drawn, black-and-white predecessor, the robotic invention of a grieving father. When his son, Toby (Freddy Highmore), is killed in a freak accident, famed inventor Dr. Bill Tenma (Nicholas Cage) designs a robot facsimile to take the boy's place. But Tenma soon discovers that a cybernetic creation is no substitute for the real thing, so he kicks Astro Boy out of his house, leaving him to make his own way in the world. Thus, the adorable tyke with the rocket-fueled feet and the enviable ability to soar to great heights, dig through solid ground and lift impossibly heavy objects faces life in a society not always known for treating its robots too well.This version of "Astro Boy" - sans, I might add, its catchy and familiar theme song - is not particularly impressive on a technical level; its backgrounds are mundane and its computer-animation merely adequate, but the story hits all the right buttons emotionally, allowing kids in the audience to identify with a little boy who's just been rejected by his own father and who finds that the world can be a mighty cruel place to anyone who's in any way "different" from the others around him.There are evil characters aplenty – the election-obsessed President of the country (Donald Sutherland), an unscrupulous carnival barker (Nathan Lane) who promotes fight-to-the-death, gladiatorial games for robots - to keep the little guy on his toes, but it's Astro Boy's resourcefulness and sweetness that make him a fine role model for kids. And that boy sure can fly!

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