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Astro Boy Draws Mixed Reviews
Astro Boy is definitely a movie you want to see with your children, especially if you are a single parent – simply because of its history and story of the special relationship between a single father and his son. The reviews of the animated feature can be describes mixed at best, but if you watch it with the right expectations, it should make for an entertaining afternoon with your kid.
Based on a Japanese comic book from the 1950s and 1960s, Astro Boy may be too old to be an icon even for most single parents today. However, there has always been a loyal fan base in the United States and the fact that the story has been resurrected as a 90 minute movie is not really a surprise. Astro Boy is one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
Apart from its promising source material, Astro Boy should have everything that would make it into a success. Stars that have given their voices to characters, including Nicholas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as a flawless and impressive animation on screen. The plays in the futuristic Astro City, located above a garbage polluted Earth. Gifted scientist Dr. Tenma, who loses his son Toby in a lab test, tries to bring back his son as a robot and even uses his son’s DNA to inject human behavior into the robot.
The story evolves as Robot Toby isn’t aware of his robotic nature, but finds out eventually and struggles as he does neither belong in the robotic nor the human world.
Reviewers give the movie high marks on the creation of the movie, but some question whether the story is just too stretched out. The Seattle Post Intelligencer writes:
“It’s the story that threatens to sink it. Never mind the intense themes involved in a grieving father creating a robot clone that he eventually rejects for being too inhuman. (What the H? is right.) Never mind the heady topics of racism, class struggles, and warmongering presidents that are sprinkled in. The film is basically a 30-minute superhero-origins story stretched out to 90 minutes.”
Metro International finds even harsher words: “Unfortunately, typical American kids’ movies are dreadful, and this “Astro Boy” loses more in translation than its pen-and-ink, voice-dubbed forebears ever did. The result only proves that even an icon as novel and weird as Astro Boy can lose its power when the titans of declining Hollywood get their desperate mitts on it and outsource the damn thing.”
USA Today takes a different approach: “The action sequences trump the story and its flashes of comedy. Director David Bowers (Flushed Away) touches awkwardly on some tough emotional material. The exploitation of robots is shown, but their ill treatment is glossed over. Though some scenes may be too intense for children, the action is slick, with robot clashes and airborne chases leaving the strongest impression.”
Entertainment Weekly’s take: “There’s a little too much lost-boys-and-girls mopiness, but when Astro becomes a robot gladiator, the movie turns happy demolition derby, and the virtuoso collisions just keep on coming.”
The Epoch Times is a bit more optimistic: “Astro Boy successfully captures the spirit and mentality of the genre with a young, naïve, yet, optimistic hero, engaging plot lines, solid character development, and titanic battles between opposing forces. While it’s not an overnight classic, the film will stand the test of time.”
All reviewers seem to agree that the movie is set up for a sequel.
Clearly, if you are going into this movie with high expectations, you may be disappointed. But if you are looking for a fun afternoon with your kid, Astro Boy should do well.
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