User reviews

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

This film is about a top robot scientist, who copes with his sons death by building a high tech robot to replace his son.

I find "Astro Boy" very well made. It has got an engaging and exciting plot with plenty of action. There are also plenty of emotional elements to touch people's hearts. The leading character, Toby, is well portrayed. he is such a good boy with a sad background. It is easy to sympathise with his situation, making viewers connect with him and hence be engaged by the story. Visuals are great as the sets are vibrantly composed, making every scene a joy to watch. "Astro Boy" is a fun film to watch. Both kids and adults will all be entertained by 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.

For some reason my expectations were not high for this movie, the IMDb rating was pretty average and there was not much hype surrounding it's release. It seems any computer animated movie that is neither Pixar nor Shrek has a difficult time getting noticed. Having seen this movie now I can whole heartedly say that this movie is as fun and action packed as any movie from the Pixar stable.

The visuals are excellent and on a par with the latest computer generated movies, the story is heart warming and touches on philosophical themes often related to more adult titles like Blade Runner or even Ghost in the Shell, the action is well handled and true to the cartoon origins of the title and ultimately there is enough depth and charm in this movie to satisfy both kids and adults. The only drawback I feel this movie has is the somewhat out of place voice acting of some of the main characters, it seems that the producers wanted the film to be attached to some big name actors rather then finding voice actors that would suit the specific characters,specifically I felt that Bill Nighy voice was out of place as the Professor and perhaps Nic Cage could have brought more energy to the role. It did feel as though the voice work was done after visuals and not vice versa which led to a somewhat flat performance by some actors. That, however is just me being ultra critical, overall this is a top draw movie and worth a look. Give it a try.

ASTRO BOY is a full-length CGI animated American adaptation of the massively-popular Japanese manga (comic book) and television series fictional character of the same name ASTRO BOY, created by Ozamu Tezuka, who is considered as "the God of Manga". Its manga series was first published in 1952 and its television program first broadcast in Japan in 1963.

Basically the storyline of Astro Boy is a sort of futuristic version of Pinocchio, but is extended by story lines of action, adventure, and pure sci-fi. Astro Boy is a robot boy, who initially has gone through an identity crisis, but later on, serves as more of a superhero who gets into various adventures and is consistently bent on promoting peace in his society wherein robots live side-by-side human beings.

Arguably, Astro Boy is the quintessential children's action hero because he is an ideal mix of pure innocence, a loving heart, and an explosive little dynamite when the going gets tough. Although he shoots lasers, and has weapon turrets from his butt, he is always doing his best to resolve things with a more friendlier approach, and always has that cute optimism that even the darkest of villains may possibly be persuaded do good things instead.

This recent Astro Boy movie is indeed, in my opinion, a good way of reintroducing Astro Boy to a younger generation. Spectacular and fun-filled, the movie is never a waste of time. The eye candy aspect is high; it almost reaches the level of Pixar quality. The action is moderately impressive, on the other hand, it has the best "I can fly" sequence (I'm talking about that sequence when the main character discovers he can fly or do superhuman things and goes out in a self-indulging fun trip) and is superior in comparison to those in movies like Spider-man, Superman and Iron Man. It may be just animation but when Astro Boy is having fun in the sky, his joy radiates unto the audience.

Although this is not all comedy from start to finish, the humor was enough to make the movie enjoyable. There are only a few punchlines placed here and there, but no matter how few they are, they pack a punch of solid laughter. I was really amused at the three robots that referred to themselves as the Robot Liberation Front. They were probably my favorite characters in this entire movie. From their quirkily hilarious character designs up to the overall portrayal of these robots, they easily got me tickled pink.

While voice actors Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy and the rest of the voice cast such as Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, and Eugene Levy were all generically good, it was Nicholas Cage, voicing Dr. Tenma, Astro boy's father, whose voice acting complemented excellently with the animation. It was as if it captured Cage in one of his best acting moments. It would not have been easy to bring the character of Tenma to a full-length movie version without altering it. In the original manga (Japanese comics) version and in the TV series, Tenma is portrayed as more brutal and has certainly a darker character, as he deliberately abandons and sells Astro boy, and in one other interpretation, he goes insane. The Tenma portrayed in this new movie version is a more positive version, as he is still bound by love for his creation, Astro Boy. Inevitably and obviously you expect this Tenma to do the morally upright thing.

The storyline aspect was pretty solid. Simplistic to be family-friendly, yet it has some plot and characterization elements that appeal to adults as well. It ends up as a movie that is both young at heart yet mature in content. Enjoyable for kids, interesting for adults. The story does not treat its audiences like idiots, and manages to tell the story without applying unnecessary restraint that can hinder a writer's creativity. In addition, the writers and the rest of the crew have an enormous pressure to make this project become perfect. That is because Astro Boy is like a national figure in Japan, as much as how Mickey Mouse is towards Americans. And in my opinion, the Americans did deliver a good script for him.

Inevitably, the movie keeps itself faithful with the source material on Astro Boy's origins but there are indeed many little alterations made in order to update this Astro Boy as being this generation's version. Rife with enough heart, humor, and spectacular explosive action, this movie has a storyline that easily pleases its audience. It is indeed worth your time & your money if you are looking for a family-friendly movie this week.

What the hell happened?!! Imagi's work is top notch but what happened to the story? the origin is ALL wrong and there are barely any characters from the manga or TV show in it. I've just recently read the astroboy manga's and I see none of Tezuka's genius it this film, what waste!

where was Atlus? Pook? Inspector Tawashi? or Deadcross? who btw would have made a better villain. I don't mind re-imagining something but the idea is to make it better not worse!!

In truth I figured it would head this way when I read the director had no clue about Astro before he started production. It would have been nice if he had at least watched one of the TV series. Movies like iron and and spider-man did well cuz all the basic's that made the character popular all these years were retained.

Folks seem to like this film but then I've heard that IQ's have been dropping so that might say something as well. I am also sad cuz I want Imagi to do well, I like their company mission statement.

I just came from an advance screening of Astroboy where I dutifully took my kids at 10 am to watch "this" thinking that if I was lucky I would be able to doze off for a few minutes during the movie. Boy, I couldn't! The story was captivating from the beginning. Yes, it was very directed at kids, you know, the far off humour and such, but when I saw Toby, the genius' "kid", I felt that the movie was after all NOT just a Pinocchio rip-off where an old man made a robot-boy because he was bored or lonely... the reasons behind the creation of Astroboy were tragic and even mature. Of course, if you are a manga aficionado, you may be thinking "duh! that's how's supposed to be", but I am NOT. I barely watched a show now and then when I was a kid (I'm 36 years old... too young for Astroboy), so I wasn't really aware of the story. So I thought, well, this development has to be a fluke inherited from the original story, from then on it should go downhill... but it did NOT. The story is full of tragedy, though decisions that if you think them through you can even understand (like a father understanding that memories cannot truly replace his son), and redemption that may be obvious to superheroes experts, but are very well exposed to a new generation of kids that will witness a clear fight between good and evil (positive and negative forces) adorned with an excellent and adequate portion of comedy. Not just a kid's movie, but a movie that I will surely watch again when my kids "force" me to buy it and to watch it with them dozens of times. Go, Astro!

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!

Now I wouldn't say this movie beat my expectations, but it fit my expectations quite nicely. The beginning to this movie was captivating, but after a while it starts to lose it's flair. However Astro Boy's flight and fight sequences were actually well done and was fun to watch. I just really wished this movie was in 3D and it would have been one heck of a thrill ride, after finishing this movie it felt like it was made to be 3D which was a disappointment cause it was not...Bummer, oh well maybe in part 2 or part 3 where they might title it "Astro Boy 3D". But since this movie has a lot of action in it, Kids will most likely have a blast and adults will probably enjoy it. But it's just generic, which is fine but the outcome in every scene felt a bit flat because of it, like if you seen the trailer you will probably get the whole story down, but some of the sequences while being predictable was cool to watch, so it's sort of forgivable. The animation seemed a bit weak even if it's based on a science fiction anime, but the musical score was awesome to listen to while Astro Boy does his thing. I have no ideas why they would get some expensive actors and actresses to do the voice overs, when they could have gotten legit voice actors/actresses for less money and spend more on the animation of "Astro Boy". The movie had it's moments but as a whole, it was not that satisfying when it was finished. It was good effort but had the potential to be much more.

7/10

I loved the 1982 TV series, and I should point out that I was a teenager (15) when that came to Australia. It was one of the seminal influences that helped my own development as an animator. I've never seen the original 60s B&W show, but I understand it is more or less the same story line.

My problem with the new movie is that it not only takes great liberties with the story. No longer taking place in Tokyo, but in a bizarre floating island/city called 'Metro-city' (Inspector Gadget?) that cruises above the trash strewn surface-world. The story has been 'kiddified' it to an extent that I don't think Tezuka would have liked.

While Astroboy has always appealed to young kids it has also maintained a maturity that ensures longevity and resonance, this version is more difficult for an adult or older teen audience to connect with, which is disappointing to say the least. If I had encountered this at the age of 15 I would not have had too much regard for it other than a throwaway bit of animation to tide me over till the next Pixar release.

Which is how I feel about it now I guess.

Sure there are some cool moments, but not enough of them. And designwise, there's one robot in particular who seems to be far more influenced by the work of Miyazaki than Tezuka. As a background throwaway reference that's fine, but this character is integral to the movie.

The modelling and animation is competent, not in the same class as Pixar, but not bad. It's a pity the work seems to have been outsourced to China, I didn't see one Japanese name in the animation credits, which seems like a pity.

Unike its titular child android, "Astro Boy"'s oh-so earnest zing is somewhat attenuated by the lack of a definitive soul to make it stand out. Which isn't to say that David Bowers' 3-D animated sci-fi is a screwed-up experience -- thanks largely to its amusing one-liners and side characters -- but its theme of a boy trying to fit in among those who are different from him fail to stand up to the likes of, say, "Pinocchio," and "Iron Giant."

In the lustrously hi-tech Metro, a city floating above piles and piles of metal scraps, humans are served by robots that are guided by the late Isaac Asimov's robotic laws. Metro resident Toby (voiced by Freddie Highmore) is seeking to follow in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), who created most of the city's machines. However, an accident that leads to Toby's death prompts the sorrowing dad to create a robot in Toby's image in a bid to replace his son. Astro, as the mechanical Toby eventually becomes known, is shattered after Dr. Tenma rejects him for not being able to live up to his human counterpart, and realizing that he's not who he thinks he is, Astro leaves the Metro in search of a place where he feels he'll belong.

Bowers' cinematic translation of a 1951 manga by Osamu Tezuka is an uneven -- albeit beaming -- trip, typified by the likes of Cage and Bill Nighy who sound bored, even if Donald Sutherland and Kristen Bell feel game for their roles. But it succeeds in creating an allegory on the rift between different classes, even if they are frustratingly glossed over in service of a predictable story and a few humdrum action. Despite its shortcomings, "Astro Boy" still proves humorously compelling when its hero spreads kindness courtesy of his cant-do-bad heart.

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.

*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.

I don't know who said they thought this was a Rip-Off of Pinnochio but it isn't and never was. I don't know why people insist on taking movies and trying to find other movies "they ripped off". For me as a kid it was one of my favorites and every time my 11 year old grandson comes over we watch one of the old B&W episodes I have on DVD. I took him to the theatre to see this just me and him and we were both like a couple of kids.(I'm 55) I'm not going to spoil it for anyone that has not seen it but I believe it is a great family movie, or at least one you can let your child watch without supervision. I enjoyed it a lot. My Grandson looks forward to our weekly viewings now with his Grandpa. As a long time ASTROBOY Fan I wish we could figure out if it is one word or two ? All my old stuff the ASTROBOY runs together. Anyway I believe this is a fun entertaining movie and not for all, but give it a try for your kids and grandkids. I think they will enjoy it.

For those who thought Anime-based-films weren't getting nowhere in the film industry put your frustrations to ease because this film may have finally put an end to the infamous Anime-based-film curse especially after all the mediocre and even dreadful treatments we had to endure like "Speed Racer" & "Dragonball Evolution" but this film changes everything people thought about Anime-based-film... It was actually good, faithful and appealing as the franchise itself that it was based on! The film followed closely with the moral lessons that Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy series creator) tried to exploit in the manga series as well as in multiple anime series involving prejudisim between humans & robots along with civilians who resided in Metro City and civilians who resided below the surface. There's also political corruption involve and they all fit perfectly well in the film so far. The humor has abit of a slapstick & typical style but with a modern touch to it which also fits well with the film since thats what the franchise is also best known for. The musical score by John Ottman was truly uplifting and that it also flows well with the film. The ending was kind of similar to how "The Incredibles" ended although they could have come up with something alittle more professional but still, it's all good! In conclusion, "Astro Boy" is what could very well be the first of many upcoming Anime-based-films that could actually be good & traditionally faithful (Aleast hopefully) in a way that film makers should take notice from and recognize it as a fine example of what an Anime-based-film should be. One thing is for sure is if only Osamu Tezuka lived long enough to see this film, for he would of have been so proud!

Astro Boy (PG, 1:34) — Fantasy: Comics & Pulps, 2nd string, crossover

I'm not a fan of anime, but I always appreciate good work regardless of subgenre. Thus I am much enamored of Hayao Miyazaki's films. This is not one of those.

Astro Boy is a relatively straightforward origin story of the eponymous robot, the spitting image of the recently deceased Toby (Tobio in Japanese, voiced by Freddie Highmore), created by his father, the genius scientist Dr. Bill Tenma (Nicolas Cage). The robot boy thinks he's the real thing, but his bereaved and still grieving father isn't able to work up the warmth he felt toward his original son and gradually distances himself from Astro.

After this premise has run its course in about 20 minutes, Astro is exiled from his floating island city, Metro City, and has to scrounge for himself on the land below, a junkscape littered with the literal droppings of the aerial metropolis overhead. Here he encounters:

 • comedy-relief robots from the Robot Revolutionary Front

 • the girl Cora and her band of plucky orphans

 • carny showman Hamegg, who provides a refuge for newcomers

 • simple-minded giant construction robot Zog

 • Trashcan, a doglike robotic, uh, trash can

Hamegg (Nathan Lane), while not exactly villainous, thinks that robots are simply machines and has no moral objections to pitting them against each other in fights to the death, as a form of mass amusement. He doesn't think any differently about Astro.

Then Metro City gets attacked by a giant robot powered by the red mcguffin, ah, stellar core, and it can only be countered by another creature powered by the blue mcguffin. That would be Astro Boy.

Astro's head is perfectly round, but he has 2 big points of black hair sticking off of it. Sometimes there's one pointing up and left and a 2nd one pointing back and right; other times left and right are switched. I spent way too much of the movie paying attention to this ludicrously insignificant detail, which to me is a sign that the director should have just picked one hairstyle and stayed with it.

There is a passing nod to Asimov's Laws of Robotics, which always earns a point in my book, and there's not much meanness on display. No effort whatsoever is invested in explanations as to why a little-boy substitute would have machines guns built into his anatomy, and generally it seems that the filmmakers didn't expect the audience to spend a lot of time thinking.

They got the result you'd expect: mild, mindless entertainment, not bad if you like that kind of thing, certainly not awful, but nothing you'll remember even a week or so later.