Astro Boy (AstroBoy) (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Directors C

  
  Like TMNT, Astro Boy lacks originality and falls short of it's source material. So fans of the anime may be dissapointed but for the rest of us it's actually great to look at. It's not a great movie. But its a fun watch. It's a good kid's movie.

• Drake T

  
  Astro Boy is a suitable first-entry into the SciFi genre, with all the charm, thrills and fun that its demographic needs in a classic premise of political morality straight from its source material. However, somewhere along the line when it was thrown through the… More
  Astro Boy is a suitable first-entry into the SciFi genre, with all the charm, thrills and fun that its demographic needs in a classic premise of political morality straight from its source material. However, somewhere along the line when it was thrown through the "Hollywood/Pixar/Dreamworks" blender it comes out the other side as a bit of an emotional derivative for the older audiences. If anything? It could have (and should have) been hell of a lot darker. I guess the folks at marketing just couldn't bring themselves to making this cute little guy as mature and sophisticated as he was meant to be. Still, for what it is it's entertaining and more than watchable.

• Michael E

  
  A very fun and entertaining, cg retelling of the classic anime and manga

• James A

  
  An enjoyable kids movie.

• Alexis N

  
  "..just okay" seems to be what i hear and it's how i feel about it too. it's not really for kids. death, evil dads, war.. it's not like disney's robots (which is such a good movie). it's mostly depressing.

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  CAST: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Eugene Levy, Kristen Bell, Ryan Stiles, Matt Lucas, Madeline Carroll DIRECTED BY: David Bowers SUMMARY: Astro Boy follows the adventures of a young-yet-powerful robot who, in the hopes of winning his… More
  CAST: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Eugene Levy, Kristen Bell, Ryan Stiles, Matt Lucas, Madeline Carroll DIRECTED BY: David Bowers SUMMARY: Astro Boy follows the adventures of a young-yet-powerful robot who, in the hopes of winning his inventor-father?s heart, sets off on a quest to rid the world of evil. However, he soon discovers that his home, Metro City, stands on the brink of destruction, and it is up to him to save the day as well as his friends and family. MY THOUGHTS: "I should have passed on this one.. Waste of a rent for me. My niece although liked it, so maybe this is more for the kids. I on the other hand got quite bored and was dozing off. It just didn't keep me interested. But might be for others."

• Nicki M

  
  Didn't do a whole lot for me, but kids movies rarely do. Animation is attractive to look at. The pre teen boy in your life will probably love it.

• EightThirty .

  
  29/01/2010 (CINEMAS) I enjoyed this movie today... quite a treat but I wish it was in 3D cause visually, its quite ordinary although the animation is more advance than the original TV series... I don't know? maybe they planned it that way!! I liked how they harmonized the story… More
  29/01/2010 (CINEMAS) I enjoyed this movie today... quite a treat but I wish it was in 3D cause visually, its quite ordinary although the animation is more advance than the original TV series... I don't know? maybe they planned it that way!! I liked how they harmonized the story from the 1960's version with the more recent version of the Astro Boy series. If you're interested in this film then try and find time to watch the first episode of the 1960's series and the first episode of the more recent version of the series. Doing this should enhance your enjoyment as you notice the nice blend of both the old and older storylines. Another thing I enjoyed was the tweaks and smart adjustments in how Astro boy came to be where as the original was very fairy-tale and didn't quite cover that area, mind you kids would of never noticed anyway so I guess it doesn't matter anyway. However,. I did enjoy all the parts I was familiar with from the series like his first experience in flying and his beaming eyes which is nicely done in this movie... I really am pleased that nothing much was changed in the Astro Boy's Character and abilities... its the same Astro Boy but with better animation!! [[..p.s.. stop watching the copied movies on the net. There's nothing quite like the Cinemas!!! ... Experience the real thing!!!! ^_^ !!!!!]]

• Rico Z

  
  Picture If you're a fan of sleek computer animated fare the likes of which Pixar is known for: spot-on casting; impeccable animation; and a powerful, nearly perfect plot--then you've come to see the wrong movie. Astro Boy is nowhere near the level of a Pixar film, but you… More
  Picture If you're a fan of sleek computer animated fare the likes of which Pixar is known for: spot-on casting; impeccable animation; and a powerful, nearly perfect plot--then you've come to see the wrong movie. Astro Boy is nowhere near the level of a Pixar film, but you already knew that. Just look at the film's trailer and yuo will notice the more crude style of animation and the atypical voice cast including--Nic Cage? But, then again, it's never Astro Boy's intention to compete with its upper crust superiors. It simply exists to appease the appetite of fanboys who have been following the Astro Boy saga for decades. It is a film tailor-made for people who appreciate nostalgia over substance--and even over style. That's not to say that this movie is bad, by any stretch. After a brush with tragedy, Astro Boy is reconstructed and shaped to be a stronger, more agile version of a boy whose father is blindly seeking to replace. But soon, things take a turn into the fantastical realm of adventure as the boy finds out that he's capable of being much more than just a "good boy." He can fly, scale building and use his jet propulsion to ward off the enemy (in this case voiced by a malevolent version of Donal Sutherland.) The movie is campy; not very well-animated and still a pleasure to watch. It's not really important in which medium the story is told--but that it's being told to begin with. And, although the story may be somewhat predictable and done a million times before, the film is evidently a labor of love by those who were dedicated to its creation. It's nothing to be ashamed of by any means. So, while some fans may not appreciate its levels of execution, the die-hards will surely feel appeased and may even go as far as saying they enjoyed it. I have never really been a fan; but I found myself having a good time (once I got over any preconceived notions of what I was going to watch.) It's good family fun with a nod to the kids who grew up wondering what it would be like to be a boy with such power. To those who may still be wondering, all you have to do is step into the world of Astro Boy and find out for youself.

• moon r

  
  nicky cage and donny sutherland endeavor mightily but cannot save this from tired mediocre writing...

• First L

  
  Astro Boy has been popular in Japan for quite awhile. The original cartoon series ran from 1963 to 1966 and is "credited as the first anime cartoon" (imdb.com). I heard someone giving an interview on tv refer to it as "Japan's version of Mickey Mouse", so I… More
  Astro Boy has been popular in Japan for quite awhile. The original cartoon series ran from 1963 to 1966 and is "credited as the first anime cartoon" (imdb.com). I heard someone giving an interview on tv refer to it as "Japan's version of Mickey Mouse", so I suppose it occupies a fairly lofty territory in the world of cartoons. Astro Boy is a robot, created to look like the son lost by Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage), who is the leading expert on robot technology. The government wants the robot, as the floating Metro City is in an arms race with the surface dwellers, or so General Stone (Donald Sutherland) would have them believe. Astro Boy winds up being hunted by both sides (like the Incredible Hulk) and has to prove to humanity that he is more than just a robot. Astro Boy is quite a quirky little movie, and is a tribute more to the comic book superhero pantheon than it's anime origins. The morals and storyline may be simplistic, but it manages to entertain. Those expecting the next Wall-E or Up will go away disappointed, as will those expecting another "Howl's Moving Castle", but for those looking for a little light diversion, it's a fun action cartoon that, for some odd reason, reminded me of the Powerpuff Girls. Hmm...

• danny d

  
  what a fun movie. the flick contained a few logical flaws in the script and nicholas cage's voice didnt fit his character all that well, but i liked every other thing about this film quite a bit. the movie was fun, the script was concieved well, and the characters all fit into… More
  what a fun movie. the flick contained a few logical flaws in the script and nicholas cage's voice didnt fit his character all that well, but i liked every other thing about this film quite a bit. the movie was fun, the script was concieved well, and the characters all fit into the story well. this is about as good as one can expect from an animated film.

• Aaron N

  
  Astro: [excited] I got machine guns...in my butt! A poorly made CG film adaptation of the classic manga/anime Astro Boy. There are some nice looking action sequences, but for a premise which deals with a lot of dark material and complex themes, this film misses every single… More
  Astro: [excited] I got machine guns...in my butt! A poorly made CG film adaptation of the classic manga/anime Astro Boy. There are some nice looking action sequences, but for a premise which deals with a lot of dark material and complex themes, this film misses every single dramatic note that would be required to have an effective story. Set in a future time, where the main part of society now exists on Metro City, a city floating in earth's sky, the story follows Toby, a brilliant little boy, who's father, Dr. Tenma (voiced by Nic Cage), is a top scientist working on some top secret stuff for military funding. During a demonstration, a freak accident ends in the death of Toby. Faster than you can say emotional story beat, Dr. Tenma goes seemingly mad with grief and builds a robot replica of his son, with all the same memories and powered by powerful blue energy core that stands for good. However, Dr. Tenma doesn't feel anything for this robot copy and rejects Toby. Toby is eventually chased by the military, hoping to harness his core power, eventually resulting in Toby's fleeing to the earth's surface, where he meets some new friends his age and seeks to find his true meaning in his new life as a powerful robot. There is potential for so many different story arcs and themes to be explored deeper, but the movie does not want to take advantage of any of that. Instead, there are a lot fast-paced plot switches and action scenes, which may look nice but don't a good movie make. And it's not fair to say that as a kid's movie this shouldn't be a problem, because there are plenty of films geared towards children that do address story elements to enhance the the drama and characters, opposed to action. So what's left to say...its colorful, there is action, some good voice work, but nothing handled well enough for a compelling story, save for very few elements. Ham Egg: Wait, robots aren't aloud to harm humans. Its a 50 year old law. Zog: I'm old school.

• Dean M

  
  I was exciting to see this first Japanese's TV Manga series goes into the motion picture at finally with use CGI because I'm such a fan of the title hero when I was a kid in the early 1980s from watching it on ABC-TV (Australia's TV channel). With Pixar-Disney and… More
  I was exciting to see this first Japanese's TV Manga series goes into the motion picture at finally with use CGI because I'm such a fan of the title hero when I was a kid in the early 1980s from watching it on ABC-TV (Australia's TV channel). With Pixar-Disney and DreamWorks Animation dominating the CGI front, <i>Astro Boy</i> comes as something from left-field. Produced by Hong Kong-based Imagi Animation Studios and directed by David Bowers, it has the requisite big name voice cast and technical gee-wizardry, but it's also something truly different. Its rich atmospherics are strongly influenced by anime, which is fitting considering the original <i>Astro Boy</i> television show's pioneering place in that genre. That's just the start of an adventure that's loaded with fantastic action and tremendous characters. But there are deeper themes amongst the stunning computer-generated visuals - such as alienation, destiny and discrimination. Like all great films, much care has been invested into the minor characters, and the voice cast is uniformly excellent (Bill Nighy's sympathetic Dr. Elefun and Donald Sutherland's power-hungry President Stone are stand-outs).

• Panta O

  
  Astro Boy, also called Atom (&#12450;&#12488;&#12512;, Atomu) in Japan, is a 2009 computer-animated film loosely based on the long-running Japanese series of the same name by Osamu Tezuka... I am not a great fan of this type of movies but this animation which was… More
  Astro Boy, also called Atom (&#12450;&#12488;&#12512;, Atomu) in Japan, is a 2009 computer-animated film loosely based on the long-running Japanese series of the same name by Osamu Tezuka... I am not a great fan of this type of movies but this animation which was adapted for a western audience was very watchable! Imagi had several discussions on how round and curvy Astro's body proportions should be and in the end they were made to be more lean. Also there were issues on Astro's rear end being too small, and that too was altered after talks with Tezuka. The by-product of these changes was Astro's Caucasian look, which I did not mind at all... it seems that Japanese did not like it and the film was not a big hit in Japan. But in China broke a box-office record for a CG animated film! I can understand why... it was interesting story for the younger audience but I can not say that there was anything special. Just solid piece of work of experience crew members who did just enough for a positive review. I think it could be a nice Christmas present for your 8 year old!

• Fascade F

  
  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… More
  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!

• Dedy N C

  
  Surely like the Cartoon one, Yes kids Will like this Movie. What happens if You told kids to read heavy book of science, da vinci, etc? will they read? :) Children type, they like to have fun. or They prefer a comics rather than that books. Astro is A robot that has an human heart,… More
  Surely like the Cartoon one, Yes kids Will like this Movie. What happens if You told kids to read heavy book of science, da vinci, etc? will they read? :) Children type, they like to have fun. or They prefer a comics rather than that books. Astro is A robot that has an human heart, even sometimes more than human. Because he would safrifice his life for human. Well done Astro or Toby... :D

• Steven V

  
  There are enough of the usual themes here in this 94 minute movie which makes it pretty accessible, such as life, death, destiny and the yearning for friendship and acceptance, of who you are, and for others to see beyond oneself with prejudiced notions, which for <i>Astro… More
  There are enough of the usual themes here in this 94 minute movie which makes it pretty accessible, such as life, death, destiny and the yearning for friendship and acceptance, of who you are, and for others to see beyond oneself with prejudiced notions, which for <i>Astro Boy</i>'s case, the misconception of a robot without heart nor emotion. Narratively, this movie was safely stuck in "safe" mode throughout, and there were some shades of other super-powered movies that can be seen here, such as an ending mimicking Pixar's <b>The Incredibles</b>. Needless to say, in between the set action sequences, the movie sagged a little in the middle act as it tried its very best to humanize this robotic boy, and the introduction of a myriad of human children and robotic characters, in it to interact with our titular hero, with the latter inserted nothing more than for some cheap laughter, like requisite jesters. But when the action scenes are very well made, engaging and entertaining, that all is forgiven when you see <i>Astro Boy</i> in full flight and fight, with the finale battle something of an adrenaline rush. The animators at Imagi Studios did a great job in delivering this movie to expectations, graphic wise. An A-list voice cast also helped, with actors such as <i>Nathan Lane</i>, <i>Eugene Levy</i>, <i>Bill Nighy</i>, <i>Samuel L. Jackson</i>, <i>Charlize Theron</i>, <i>Nicolas Cage</i> and <i>Kristen Bell</i> all chipping in.

• Robotbling -

  
  As a fan of the ’80s animated tv series from my childhood, I was wary of the new Astro Boy movie by Imagi Studios, so I didn’t go see it right away. Besides Astro himself there are only a small handful of recognizable characters, while the rest of the cast is new and generic. The… More
  As a fan of the ’80s animated tv series from my childhood, I was wary of the new Astro Boy movie by Imagi Studios, so I didn’t go see it right away. Besides Astro himself there are only a small handful of recognizable characters, while the rest of the cast is new and generic. The world has been divided into the affluent floating Metro City and the Surface dwellers below. As a fan of Tezuka’s character designs, I was disappointed to see that his distinctive style was not replicated in the film as it was in the latest tv series and video games. And that, despite volumes of source material available, little (if any) was mined when scripting and designing the film. All of these needless changes to Astro Boy’s origin and setting hurt the movie’s chances of a favorable review. In the original story, Dr. Tenma’s son Tobio is killed in a car crash. In the movie, Toby is incinerated by a military robot gone haywire, infused with the negative power of the film’s version of unobtanium. Dr. Tenma then creates the robot we all know and love in Toby’s likeness. This kind of change in the backstory doesn’t matter so much, and it lays the groundwork for the film’s predictable plot of a power hungry military general’s descent into madness. I’m not an Astro Boy purist by any means, so this kind of thing is entirely excusable, but the next change is less superficial. Astro gets blown off Metro City to the scrap heap below. The Robot Circus and its abusive manager have been replaced by a gladiatorial robot tournament and a tinkering roboticist, and he’s nowhere near as evil. We don’t see Astro suffering under the whip of his human master. We see robots being destroyed for the humans’ entertainment, but they are mostly complicit fighting machines, so the message is blurry. And Astro doesn’t earn his name from his daring circus tricks – but by one of a ragtag band of revolutionary robots. One of which is literally a talking fridge. Along with a talking spray bottle robot, these designs are terribly unimaginative and don’t belong in Astro Boy. In what is perhaps the film’s boldest alteration, Astro’s heart and sense of justice no longer comes from the heart built by Dr. Tenma, but from the positive power of the film’s unobtanium, giving it an unwanted tinge of spirituality (it gives Astro the God-like power to resurrect broken robots). In the tv series Astro often ran into trouble when his batteries ran out, but thanks to the unobtanium he now has an infinite power supply. In effect, Astro appears invincible, which kills any suspense that the film’s final confrontation may have had. Unfortunately, the enemy robot is not based on any particular design from Tezuka’s canon. It’s sad that most of Tezuka’s unique characters, the often bitter-sweet messages underlying his stories, and his damning portrayal of human intolerance of robots wasn’t faithfully reproduced on the big screen. These changes will no doubt leave fans feeling disappointed, but the film still manages to be entertaining in its own right. Those completely unfamiliar with Astro Boy will likely enjoy the film on its own merits. Despite my gut feeling, it turned out better than I would have thought, and the visuals look great. I felt it was just a little bit too long. As it is, I can still give it a recommendation, though fans looking for a faithful big screen adaptation should be prepared for something different. This review is a repost from: www.plasticpals.com

• Aladdin S

  
  Astro Boy is a highly-unoriginal Pixar-esqe film about the robot boy I loved. I used to casually watch the show as a child, and I had a blast (pun intended) watching Astro Boy. The animation is done wonderfully well. The character models are unoriginal, looking like something one… More
  Astro Boy is a highly-unoriginal Pixar-esqe film about the robot boy I loved. I used to casually watch the show as a child, and I had a blast (pun intended) watching Astro Boy. The animation is done wonderfully well. The character models are unoriginal, looking like something one would see from a Nickelodeon cartoon, but just about everything else looks fantastic. Astro Boy, in essence, is the origin of Astro that may set up the inevitable Astro Boy 2. Thankfully, it is completely true to the source material. Most of the film is about how Astro was created. Sadly there is little action throughout most of this film until the action-packed ending. The ninety-four minutes will move quickly as there rarely any boring parts throughout, and the story is thoughtful and has a wonderful message, something I am a sucker for (The Iron Giant). Critics love to criticize this movie simply because there are many flaws, but the simple fact is that if you are a fan of the old Astro Boy mangas or TV shows, it's difficult not to be happy about the little robot's dazzling return.

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