Reel Rating: 2 out of 5 Reels
MPAA rating: PG for some action and peril and brief mild language
Released in theaters: Oct. 23, 2009
Genre: Animated, sci-fi, action-adventure
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Davod Bowers
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Bell
Sex/Nudity: Mild flirting between Astro Boy and Cora.
Violence/Gore. In addition to Toby’s death during a lab incident gone horribly wrong, this movie includes lots of weapon-based explosions, peril, chase scenes and robots being destroyed, many during Coliseum-like fight-to-the-death battles.
Profanity: Includes jokes about weapons growing out of Astro Boy’s butt, and the sudden release of a robot’s bodily fluids. Mild insults like “idiot” and “stupid.”
Which Kids Will Like It? Kids 8 and older who like cartoons about robots and sci-fi cities (though I don’t recommend it).
Will Parents Like It? Not likely. It’s too violent and sad for me to give a good recommendation.
Review: Astro Boy is one of those movies 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 first broadcast in Japan from 1963-1966 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).
So Toby’s genius scientist-dad decides to re-create his son in the form of a robot who looks and sounds just like Toby, and even has Toby’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 toward kids ages 6-9, 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 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.
Jane Boursaw is a family entertainment writer specializing in movies and TV. Visit her at Reel Life With Jane; follow her on Twitter; become a friend on Facebook; email jboursaw@charter.net.
