Janelle Li
Astro Boy brings you into a futuristic world called Metro City, a paradise above the original Planet Earth, now referred to as “The Surface”. The lucky human inhabitants have all their daily needs taken care of by trusty robots, whom are treated like dispensable, disposable paper cups.
The film is a remake of classic Japanese cartoon series Tetsuwan Atomu, the pioneer of anime [a particular style of animation unique to Japan], into a smooth 3-D animated movie.
The first deviation from the penned version that you’ll notice will be Astro (voiced by Freddie Highmore)’s outfit. He’s now dressed in a full set of clothes, as opposed to baring his chest and wearing just a green belt and black briefs. The little mechanical boy’s eyebrows and eyes are also modified to make him look a little more mature. However, die-hard fans of Atomu, as he’s been called since 1952 in his home country, can rest assured that author Tezuka Osamu was consulted and gave his approval to the polished computer-generated appearance.
Adaptations of popular established works tend to raise expectations of viewers, but Astro Boy didn’t disappoint. The film did sufficient justice to the original comic series by sticking close to Dr Tenma (Nicolas Cage)’s motivation behind creating Astro, and not changing some of the names such as Dr Tenma and antagonist Hamegg (Nathan Lane).
The second half of the plot took a leaf from the first episode of its anime predecessor, with Astro fighting his first enemy Hamegg who’s out to enslave all robotkind. President Stone (Donald Sutherland), the other villian whom Astro emerged victor against, was made up. The story has good flow with a clear climax and ending. The amount of detail was just right, without being too overwhelming while giving adequate substantiation. Every character has a significant role to play, down to the tiniest unnamed android, no matter how short the screen time.
Kids and adults alike will enjoy the movie with its straightforward humour, such as Astro’s virgin attempt of controlling the cannons on his feet, and how Trashcan, the battery-powered canine, tries desperately to let his human companions know that Astro isn’t what they think. The array of robots featured in different sizes and makes, such as replicas of fridges and spray bottles will delight both little boys and girls.
On the other hand, be prepared to take a jet-coaster [Japanese equivalent for rollercoaster] ride of emotions in the action-packed 95 minutes. One moment you’re moved to tears watching the poor little robot with Toby’s memories hear his dad tell him in his face that he’s not wanted, the next moment you’ll be laughing at the hilarious pair of flying robot squeegees that got tired of their mundane cleaning life.
Besides the main storyline, you may also notice some subtle references to issues in the real world, such as disposal of waste onto “The Surface” from Metro City, to mirror how we pile our trash on dumping grounds to clean our streets but in actual fact we’re not completely destroying the rubbish.
Sleek graphics and a voice cast of big names may be the initial luring factors to catch Astro Boy, but this movie is worth every cent with its rich content that tugs at your heartstrings.
Opens: Nov 5 (Singapore)
Duration: 95 min
Language: English
Rating: PG
Genre: Action/Adventure
Director: David Bowers
Cast: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Nathan Lane, Kristen Bell