Astro Boy

While there are better animated films out there, Astro Boy is a long way from being down there with the worst. Coming from someone who loves animation dearly and only know the TV series by name(really need to get round to seeing it), Astro Boy was a good film that could have been even better. The bright spot about Astro Boy is the animation which is just wonderful, full of detail, beautifully modelled character designs and vivid colours, and the music, which has a rousing sweep to it, also shines. The dialogue is smart and intelligent, the comic relief is actually amusing and doesn't feel misplaced at all and the more emotional parts don't come across as mawkish. The story generally works, of course it is formulaic and can drag from trying to do too much(as well as having an ending that is too at odds with the rest of the film) but the heart and charm is there as well as a fun and sweet nature. There are a lot of action sequences too and they are very exciting without bogging things down too much. Credit also is due for incorporating darker adult themes and doing them in a way that doesn't jar and gives the film emotional impact and heart, the beginning is downbeat, but anybody will relate to and be moved by it. The characters generally do engage, especially the endearing protagonist. And generally the voice work is very good, although Bill Nighy felt out of place and Nicolas Cage had a tendency to be too monotone. Freddie Highmore is perfect in the protagonist role, Donald Sutherland seems to be enjoying himself as the villain, Charlize Theron and Kristen Bell are decidedly sincere and Nathan Lane and Matt Lucas are great fun. In conclusion, good but could have been more. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Super-surreal cartoon about a little boy who's love for science took him further than he could ever use in his young imagination. His father serving as a current head of the "Ministry of Science" in the mystical island of Metro City is coerced into utilizing the spheres of energy for political gain. During the experiment the little boy gets caught in the experiment and winds up being an unfortunate casualty. Out of his grief, the father decides to re-create a replica of his lost son in the form of a robot with powers and ability way beyond the expectations of himself and the whims of the politician. This is an incredible journey that you would not want to miss! Please see this!

Unlike many of the other reviews(it seems), I don't have an ax to grind. I vaguely remembered the character and actually thought it was a French cartoon. If it was on TV, I never saw it.

As such, my expectations were fairly plebeian - just a family film with good production values and some entertainment value. Well, Astroboy IS well produced and IS very entertaining. There was plenty of comedy to keep the film light and lots of action to keep things moving.

I might agree with those who think the portrayal of Toby's(Astroboy's) father was rather cold. However, it fits with the sequence of events and one assumes that the producers were following the original story (I'm not going to read the comic book to find out).

There are many endearing characters in the film and interesting villains to boot. The animation varied from good to excellent and the pacing avoided any significant lulls. All in all, well and cleverly done. Good job, Imagi, and all the talented people who contributed.

I recommend this to anyone who wants some light-hearted entertainment. My family loved it.

I never expected to see some high-art film when I saw the trailer for the movie. It's Astro Boy, the kid fighting evil aliens or robots on Saturday mornings. I expect it to be just a movie about a young super kid fighting.. well.. robots and aliens.

So when I walked into the movie I was pleasantly surprised that there are more than fighting in the movie. I was touched in many places where the father (Dr. Tenma) and son (Toby/ Astro)'s bittersweet relationship is shown. The acting is GREAT! Both by the actors (Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, they're all great) and by the animators in Hong Kong.

There are also many funny moments, although not enough time was given to laugh at them. I wish the pacing was a bit slower at the start of the movie (but I read many people were bored at the start of the movie). Well.. the problem is that they need to zip in all the story about the beginning of Astroboy, in about 15-20 minutes time.

I love the little robots like Trash Can and the RRF. They are such relief makers in the movie. Most of the funny moments came from them.

I read reviews about certain political agendas etc, in the movie. But i disagree. Those statements are only made to support the story, and shouldn't be looked at with too much thought. Remember this is a kid's movie, and should be taken lightly as an entertainment source, don't think too much about it.

I don't really get why the box office for this movie is so bad. I mean, this is WAY BETTER THAN Bee Movie, or Space Chimps, or Open Season 2... SERIOUSLY. It deserves better.

I went to see this movie on a Saturday and there were a lot of parents with kids in the cinema. When the movie finished the kids were happy and thrilled and said "That was awesome!" Take your kids to this movie. They'll love it.

Astro Boy has always been the symbol of the golden era of anime as well as the golden era of American licensing of anime. This movie presents Astro Boy in a slightly new way.

The story for it is rather simple, but doesn't fail in keeping one entertain throughout it's time run. Those who seen the three anime adaptations would already know the origin of Astro Boy's creation. That's still included as well as appearances of a couple of recognizable characters. And a couple of new additions that fit in for this movie.

Now to list the good and bad thing about this movie. The good thing is this movie remains true to the concept and Astro Boy a like. It still takes place in the future where robots and humans live together. As well as robot civil rights which was a common topic in the previous Astro Boy adaptations on robots being questioned whether they should have the same rights as humans or not.

Bad thing is that the movie could of been a whole lot more if the writers made the movie feel more close to the anime with the addition of more characters or have Dr. Elefun & Daddy Walrus have either bigger parts or have at least have the same feel as their anime counterparts. I also think this movie tried too hard in Americanizing it by adding certain human characters that look like they belong in a different movie or the fact that they were trying to make it look more American by having the characters eat pizza instead of tempura.

The die hard fans of Astro Boy will likely to still enjoy this movie. It's not a mirror copy of it's anime counterpart but doesn't fail in being entertaining. To me it's something that will make popcorn taste better while watching it.