Astro Boy

Welcome to another episode of The "D" List.

Today's review is Astro Boy. Directed by David Bowers. Written by David Bowers & Timothy Harris. Based on the manga comic series created by Osamu Tezuka.

Our story takes us to the distant future where society has become merged with technology. Particularly robotics. Robots now maintain the way of the world led by it's creator Dr. Tenma voiced by the hugely miscast Nicholas Cage. This futuristic utopia is called Metro City and it hovers in the sky, away from the dirty, dank and rotting surface that the humans were responsible for. MESSAGE!!!!!!!!!!! When a robot fails, malfunctions or is destroyed it gets tossed down to a massive landfill of broken down robots. That area is also populated by people called surface dwellers. They are given a bad rap as enemies of Metro City when they are really a society that was left behind.

After the accidental death of his son Toby during a weapons experiment, Tenma created a robotic duplicate complete with the boy's memories. He thinks he's a boy. Kind of like a reverse pinocchio. When Tenma comes to grips that robot Toby can't replace the real one, robot Toby is discarded, finding his way to the robot dump. The rest of the story plays out as Toby struggles to find his acceptance while making new friends and discovering he has powers.

Not knowing much about Astro Boy's history other than it was originally japanese manga (comics). It later became an animated series which gave birth to the immensely popular "anime" genre. I went into this film without any preconceived ideas. That was a good thing because this film doesn't fully capitalize on the potential it had. There is too much brooding during Astro's attempt to "find" himself while he's on the robot wasteland. Obviously the film has to deal with sadness and pain as Tenma mourns the loss of his child but it drags too long for a kids movie.

What made the animated series so popular was that Astro Boy was a child hero. He spent every episode defeating a new enemy bent on world destruction. He protected the people he loved while kicking ass in the process. The film version doesn't follow suit until too late into the story. There were some pretty cool action scenes but they were spread out so far and thin that you are craving more.

Another formula that is prevalent in these CG films is comedic sidekicks. These movies are bullseye targets for major laughs and sadly Astro Boy's attempts don't take off. It almost felt like the films couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Was it a comedy, an action film, a drama or a hybrid of all of the above. That's not easy to pull off in any film genre and unfortunately Astro Boy misses the mark by a small enough margin to make it another disappointing CG animated film.

On the plus side however, the kiddies should love it because there is enough action and suspense to keep them entertained. I guess the big kid in me wasn't into it.

On the 5 star scale. Astro Boy gets 2 stars with a Give it a Shot recommendation if you have kids. Otherwise Netflix it.

That's all for today.

Not sure what's on tap. So keep your eyes peeled.

Until Next Episode....I'll Save You A Seat!

"D"