Review: Astro Boy (cute, but also sad and violent)

Movie: Astro Boy * Official Site * Film Gecko links * Trailer	In Theaters: Oct. 23, 2009
Runtime: 94 minutes	Directed by: David Bowers
MPAA Rating: PG for some action and peril, and brief mild language	Gecko Rating:

“Astro Boy” is one of those movies that’s cute, but that you’ll probably forget about a day or two after you see it. It’s also a little violent and sad for a kids’ movie. Not as sad as “Up” or “Marley and Me,” but still sad in its own way.

The concept began as a Japanese manga series and TV show first broadcast in Japan from 1963 to 1966, and follows the adventures of the title character, Astro Boy (voiced by Freddie Highmore). He starts out as a real boy named Toby who lives in the thriving metropolis of the floating Metro City with his scientist dad, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage).

But when Toby tags along during a presentation to the war-mongering President Stone (Donald Sutherland), he ends up getting killed in a freak lab accident involving a giant robot (kind of intense for little kids right off the bat).

More after the jump…

So Toby’s genius scientist-dad decides to re-create his son in the form of a robot who looks and sounds just like his son, and even has his son’s memories. Except when all is said and done, Tenma decides that he doesn’t want a robot for a son.

So he rejects Toby, who then runs away and falls in with a group of misfit orphans on the over-polluted Earth, including black-and-purple-haired Cora (Kristen Bell) and Zane (Moises Arias), who live with Ham Egg (Nathan Lane), their seemingly kind adoptive father who runs a Coliseum-like show where robots battle to the death.

But in order to make the war robot he wants, the President needs the blue energy inside Astro Boy, so the military goes on the hunt for him. Meanwhile, Toby is hiding his true identity from the orphans, because he knows they’ll reject him if they knew the truth. 

I get what they’re trying to do here. The original “Astro Boy” tackled some heavy issues like war, pollution, death, and parental rejection. But it doesn’t really work as a cute kids’ movie, which based on the trailers, is what this movie purported to be. 

It’s CG-animated, which you’d think would be targeted towards kids ages six to nine, but it’s too dark, violent and sad for those ages. And yet my older kids weren’t the least bit interested in seeing it because it’s “a kids’ movie.”

The storyline and characters are also fairly predictable – outcast kid who realizes his true powers and becomes a hero, geeky but kind-hearted orphans, power-hungry President, cute robot sidekick (Astro Boy adopts a little trashcan-dog), giant but helpful robot … I’m not really sure what ages this movie is appropriate for. Maybe older kids familiar with the original Manga series. But then, they’ll probably just go back to the original manga series, rather than see this movie.

As for the violence, the story includes plenty of weapons-based explosions and disasters, the killing of Toby, and several robots destroyed throughout the movie, including those in the battle-to-the-death scenes in the Coliseum.

For all of these reasons, I can’t really recommend “Astro Boy” for kids. I will say this, though: I really liked the CG animation, which does a good job of picking up all the little emotions and details of the characters. And things end well, so at least it’s not like the horrible “Marley and Me” ending, with everyone in the theater sobbing their hearts out. 

Image: TM and © 2009 Summit Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.