Today’s quick review: Astro Boy. When his son Toby (Freddie Highmore) is killed in a lab accident, Doctor Tenma (Nicolas Cage), Metro City’s most brilliant roboticist, creates a robotic double with the memories and personality of the boy. But Tenma finds that he cannot replace his son and rejects his creation. Taking the name Astro, the young robot ventures out into the ruined wastes in search of a place to call home.
Astro Boy is an animated family adventure film based on the classic manga and cartoon character. Astro Boy presents a world where humanity lives in a floating city, robots are ubiquitous, and ethical questions are brushed aside by luxury. The movie features a reasonable plot for a kids’ film, cartoonish CGI graphics, and several familiar voices, including Charlize Theron, Bill Nighy, and Nathan Lane.
The crux of Astro Boy is whether Astro is human. He has the heart and mind of Toby, but is made of metal and silicon. In a world where machines are cast aside on a daily basis, the distinction is an important one. While Astro Boy does not mine this concept as deeply as more mature science fiction, the question receives a satisfactory treatment and offers the movie a bit of heart.
Hand in hand with this theme comes the universe’s treatment of robots. For thinking, feeling, and fully voiced creations, robots are routinely dehumanized and discarded, an odd dissonance that the film never resolves. The paradox is deliberate and ties into Astro’s questionable humanity, but the movie tries to play it both ways, with robot destruction as comic relief and robot humanization as a core plot point. The resulting muddy tone would hamstring a more serious movie; for Astro Boy it is more of a peculiarity.
The film’s overall quality is moderate. The CGI has a soft, rounded look to it, with simple coloring and exaggerated designs reminiscent of a comic, not bad but quickly outclassed by advances in technology. The voice acting draws on an interesting cast but offers nothing too special in the way of performances. There are a couple of good jokes, but most of the humor is feeble. The high-flying action is plentiful but lacks impact.
Most viewers would not get much from Astro Boy. For a similar movie with better characters, humor, and animation quality, check out Big Hero Six. For those of less discerning taste, Astro Boy makes for a pleasant background watch or palate cleanser.
6.3 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for being a decent family film missing the spark needed to make it shine.