Astro Boy (Summit Entertainment)
A Super Hero Junior Grade
Astro Boy is an animated action movie that is a blend of Frankenstein, Pinocchio and Oliver. It takes a little bit here and a little bit there, throws them all together and ends up with a movie that is pretty good entertainment. It may not set records for inventiveness but it has enough punch to keep your pre-teen child or grandchild amused.
In this movie, which is set a few years in the future, Earth has become pretty much a dumping ground for worn out robots. Floating high in the sky is Metro City where the elite live. The man in political power is General Stone (voiced by Donald Sutherland). He is running for re-election and wants to do something to sway the voters. This something is the creation of a massive peacekeeper robot.
The inventor of the peacekeeper is Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage). He and his co-creator Dr. Elefun (Bill Nighy) have created this huge robot in hopes it will help mankind. However when General Stone gets a chance he makes sure that the evil red power is placed in the robot instead of the positive blue one. This causes the huge robot to go on a rampage resulting in tragedy. Dr, Tenmas son Toby (Freddie Highmore) is killed.
Besieged by grief Tenma creates a robot boy who duplicates his lost son. The rest of the movie centers on Toby AKA Astro Boy trying to find his purpose. This search leads him to Earth where he meets up with a group of kids led by the incorrigible Cora (Kristen Bell). All of the kids report to a grown up named Hamegg (Nathan Lane). Tobys adventures begin here but end up back on Metro City.
The animation for this film is good and the world created by the makers of the film is a unique place. The robots in the film are either menacing or funny, and most of them fall in the latter category. This is especially true of trash can a robot dog who takes to Toby.
The film is rated PG for mild violence and action sequences.
Some of the early parts of the story might be a little frightening to small children but the overall tenor of the film is optimistic. There are lessons about parental love, and the desire to do good in all things we attempt.
The voice talent is very good with Highmore and Sutherland being standouts in this area. The musical score by John Ottman is impressively heroic. It soars as much as Astro Boy does.
As animated action movies go this one is head and shoulders above Speed Racer but still not of the caliber to make it a huge hit.
I scored Astro Boy a blast-off 5 out of 10.
