Halloween is almost here (duh) and most of the movies in theaters are aiming for the scares and gore audience. But what about the young kids who would still like to sleep at night? “‘Astro Boy” solves this problem brilliantly by giving everyone an idealistic hero with super powers that are not only cool but only used for good. Astro’s powers let him fly, have super strength, have energy cannons for arms and many others that help him fight against evil. Your kids will love the slapstick humor mixed in with some fantastic action sequences that keep the movie flowing.
After the tragic loss of his son Toby, the brilliant Dr. Tenma creates Astro Boy, a super robot powered by the Blue Core. When Astro Boy doesn’t initially live to expectations, Dr. Tenma gets rid of him by dropping him from the floating metropolis of Metro City to the wastelands of Earth. Astro tries to be “less robot” and befriends a gang of orphans working for the robot repairman, Hamegg. He becomes involved in robot fights but when government agents come to take the Blue Core, Astro escapes and the hard nosed President Stone uses the dangerous Red Core to power his ultimate war machine; Peacekeeper. The machine goes on a rampage in the city and only Astro, with the help of his new friends and acceptance from his father, is able to save the city. To learn more about the movie we have also created a Character Primer along with photos and a clip for you to see what you’re getting yourself into.
The computer animation in the film has a cool retro style to it that is colorful, bright and easy on the eyes. And the great animation is backed up by a star studded voice cast including Freddie Highmore (Astro Boy), Nicolas Cage (Dr. Tenma), Kristen Bell (Cora), Donald Sutherland (President Stone), Bill Nighy (Dr. Elefun and Robotsky), Nathan Lane (Hamegg) and many others. These great actors give life and emotion into the characters that take them to a whole new level. Some of the father/son relationship scenes will pull the heart strings a little so be ready for that. You will see Astro grieve, experience loss and feel loneliness in a strange world he doesn’t know so the themes can be a little heavy at times. But the goodness in him always shines through.
There are some not-so-subtle political undertones in the film as well. President Stone is determined to create an all powerful robot to conquer the world so that he can be the one to protect it. You can’t help but notice the similarities to our most recent ex-Vice President, Dick Cheney. But besides that, this is a great movie for the entire family. A superhero that everyone can root for, using a bright and colorful medium that kids can enjoy.
It is a kids movie so the story lines are nothing original (“Pinocchio,” “Gladiator”) and the visuals aren’t anything you haven’t seen before (“WALL-E”) but that doesn’t mean this movie won’t entertain children and adults alike. “Astro Boy” is a great movie to take the kids that are just too young for the blood and scares out in theaters this time of year.
