If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Absolutely Fantastic

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

*Possible Spoilers* With its emphasis on recyclable cuteness, reusable cleverness, and regenerated CG wizardry, I would never go so far as to say that I hated Astro Boy - But, then again, I could never, ever say that I loved it, either.If you were to actually take the time to watch the original, 2-D Astro Boy cartoons from the mid-1960s, I'm sure, like myself, that you'd most likely find them to be much more entertaining and, yes, even more thoughtful then this senseless rehashing of the tale of a wide-eyed, pointy-haired, robot boy who (under the surface of his apparent innocence) was essentially a lethal, all-powerful, one-man, destructo-machine that was not to be challenged or provoked into action.It really made no sense to me why, after the real Toby Tenma was killed (due partly to his dad's own inability to protect him), Toby's father, the master scientist, Dr. Tenma, in wanting to re-create his now-dead son, decided to add all of the elaborately designed, over-the-top weaponry, and such, to this pint-sized, mechanical boy.And, after Dr. Tenma got his beloved boy back (thanks to Blue Core radiation), he then wastes no time in rejecting this fabulous creation of his as though it were nothing but a piece of disposable trash.Amongst all of the many explosions and scenes of mass destruction that took place in this pretentiously innocent, little movie it, pretty much, contained every robot/superhero movie-cliché in the book, and then some.On top of that, I found Astro Boy's story borrowed heavily from the basic themes of other films such as - Wall-E, The Iron Giant, David & Goliath, Peter Pan, Frankenstein, Transformers, and The Incredibles - to name but a few.And, so, when you take all of this apparent lifting of ideas into consideration, there was virtually nothing new or original to be found in the entirety of Astro Boy's recycled and predictable story.This film reached the absolute nadir of its intended humor when, in the middle of battle, Astro Boy bent over, forwards, only to find, to his astonishment (and my puzzlement) two miniature-sized, retracting machine guns projecting from out of his butt.Ho-Hum! Like, give me a break, already! Was Toby's crackpot, scientist father really that much of a major moron as to make his replicated son's butt cheeks lethal weapons? I mean, that, to me, was just so unfunny and moronic that it managed to reduce Astro Boy to the level of being nothing but a big cannon for stupid fart jokes.And, finally - I found it really irksome that the pointy-ness of Astro Boy's hair kept changing sides on his head whenever he appeared in another scene.

Honestly, I didn't actually watch the famous anime series, but I understand that the franchise was pretty popular alongside the likes of Pokemon and Dragonball. When this movie came out, I was surprised because Astro Boy hasn't been talked about that much in recent times, so I checked it out and found myself entertained.Plot: When a weapons test accidentally kills his son Toby, Dr. Bill Tenma (Nicolas Cage), with the help of fellow scientist Professor Elefun (Bill Nighy), builds a robotic copy with advanced weaponry later named Astro. After soon being rejected by his father and chased by an ego maniacal, war-mongering president who desires his power source, Astro runs away from the floating Metro City and makes new friends on the surface, but he'll soon realize that he can't run away from his destiny as Earth's new robotic hero.This movie delivers cool action scenes, good story, and nice graphics. The voice cast is great, from Nicolas Cage to Bill Nighy to even Nathan Lane from "Lion King." My only problems are a few lame jokes and some minor characters that are rather pointless.Overall, this film is nicely done with very few things things to nitpick. It's at least worth a watch. Onward and upward!

The points in his hair are as iconic as Mickey Mouse's ears; they exist in their own reality, where they are always seen, no matter the angle of his head! It's ASTRO BOY, Osamu Tezuka's manga creation from the 1950s. Cartooned in the 1960s in Japan, then re-cartooned in the '80s (remember those cute cartoons with his big pointy head and bigger eyes, where they couldn't even synch the "Oouah!" exclamation - over a mouth position that looked like "Oouah!"?); now re-rendered in CG animation - where Astro's spikes must necessarily migrate from one side of his head to the other in different shots so we can still always see them. (These things affect me; what can I say?) The cartoon was cuter because his head was bigger. Still, ASTRO BOY has a lot of heart; it's an adult cartoon clothed in tiny metal undies and yeti boots.Young Brit Freddie Highmore voices the 2009 Astro, speaking with an American accent - but isn't Astro (aka "Tetsuwan Atomu," "Iron Arm Atom") Japanese? He was styled like a 10-year-old boy in the cartoons, but here, Astro is definitely at an older age of latent lust, so that he can tent his metal undies in the direction of tween Cora (voiced by Kristen Bell, whose spinner blondness surely deserves tenting ovations, if it weren't for Astro being a robot whose man-apparatus, we suspect, is non-existent). Onward...Like a junior version of FRANKENSTEIN meets PET SEMATARY, Astro starts as a human boy named Toby, who is disintegrated in a lab experiment. Very gruesome. In the throes of despair, Toby's scientist father, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) recreates his son as a robot, implanting all Toby's memories and breathing life into his creation with an inexplicable "blue energy life force." Tenma ultimately rejects the robot boy for reminding him of his lost son (uh, I thought that was the idea) in a sad scene, that also raises questions about artificial intelligence.How do we discern between true emotion and "programmed" emotion? Toby loves Tenma as a father because Tenma programmed Toby that way. Though aren't we all "programmed" from youth with principles, fears, insecurities, and a love for yeti boots? What is "love" from a child toward its parents except devotion/gratitude for sustenance and protection? But Tenma wants "real love" from the young automaton - whatever that is - not programmed love.The themes are deep, and rife for endless discussion, over resurrection (for Christies), anatta (for Buddhies), soul transmigration (for Hindies) and katra (for Vulcans).But to keep it light (for kiddies), light up those yeti boots and let's punch some evil robots! Astro lives on Metro City, floating above Earth, the Metro government dumping their garbage on Earth's surface. After discovering his super powers (flight, super strength, power rays - and butt guns! Now I get it: Ass-tro Boy!), a chase scene leaves Astro stranded and an exile on Earth's surface, where he meets Cora and her outlaw gang of kids - and a dog-bot named Trashcan who reminds us of R2-D2. As Astro must go through adversity trying to regain his home and father, movie takes on shades of Pinocchio. Ironically, Astro also gets wood for Cora.Bill Nighy voices big-nosed Dr. Elephun; Eugene Levy is a stooping, flustered butler robot; Nathan Lane is Hamegg, the robot-gladiator pimp, who looks exactly like Nathan Lane.Matt Lucas (LITTLE Britain) is Sparx, heading a trio of British robots (The Robot Revolutionary Front) who have been watching too much Python. Very interesting that the robots of this world are acquainted with Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.Donald Sutherland is the evil president of Metro City, whose campaign slogan is, "It's Not Time For Change" (obviously styled after John Boehner), who is subsumed by the giant evil robot whose life force is the "red energy." (Get it? Blue, good, democrats; red, evil, Republicans.)Astro proves his worth as an all-round effeminate nice guy by battling robots and doing good deeds (he even holds up the whole of Metro City, which makes him pretty much as strong as Superman), but this movie's mettle is revealed when Astro is called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice - and he never flinches - as he goes Shirtless Kirk in his death plunge into the heart of the evil Republican robot. The mark of a true hero, the likes of which senile coward John McCain could never fathom.Even though everyone treats Astro like a unique creation, his father should have Astro's master files somewhere, so if Astro "dies" it should not be too much of a task to download another Toby robot. At least, not as hard as getting a Republican to stop lying. And the "blue energy" that makes Astro kind and strong and metrosexual is also merely a matter of technology. (Astro's sacrifice is diluted if we realize this, so they treat him as a one-off, almost as if he has become a Real Boy at the climax... cough--Pinocchio--cough.) Movie trips over its feet when Tenma reconciles with Astro at the end, "You may not be Toby, but you're still my son." Shouldn't that be "You may not be my son" (they are not bound in blood) "but you're still Toby" (Toby's programs are swirling Astro's master processing unit)? Who's laughing now, Carlo Collodi?

A new interpretation of the old Japanese manga cartoon. It is the story of Android Astro Boy, his alienation from his human father and the adventures he has in his exile in an robot underworld.The credits list Tozuka -creator of the character- as part of the movie, but this film is not very Japanese in style. In fact, it is set in a fictional world that could be anywhere, with very multiracial characters with slight or none Japanese traits. However, the action and strong story and the energetic action typical of Japanese cartoons are still there.The storyline offers things for adults and children, and I think that small children should be advised on some issues discussed in the movie. In fact, there are many adult issues shown here, among them the old theme of what separates humans from androids explored in an Assimov-ish way.The 3D animation is wonderful, with astonishing colors and a precious cinematography. The characters are very well drawn and dubbed by Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Cage, among other famous actors.Wall-E is indebted in parts of the story and settings to the original Astroboy's cartoon story. However, this version of Astroboy was released after Wall-E did, so the viewer could think that this movie is somewhat copying Wall-E, while is the other way around.I truly enjoyed the film and let me wanting for more. I think the slow ratting in RT is truly undeserved. Astroboy story is a classic in Sci- fic, and this movie honors it.