There’s a scene in the new Astro Boy movie which is a perfect
example of the problems this film has. Astro Boy, having been discovered to be a
robot by the malicious Ham Egg (voiced by Nathan Lane), is condemned to fight in
a robot/gladiator-type arena to the death. Astro Boy wants no part of this scene,
so he just flies away--until he bumps into a force field that covers the
open-air arena, which prevents his escape. Fair enough; now he has no choice but
to fight. And Astro Boy defeats his robotic opponent by smashing his head against
the force field in a very cool moment. But when the super evil President Stone
(voiced by Donald Sutherland) and his troops abruptly land right in the middle
of the arena, no explanation is given as to how their ship got past the force
field. They just land, with the force field mysteriously forgotten.
And that’s part of the reason why the new film based on the original anime
series Astro Boy just doesn’t work: it’s not very well thought out, overall. Completely
ignoring the original story by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, the filmmakers sought
to make up their own story, which is a lame cross between Pinocchio and
The Incredibles, which lacks the creative touches of either film. I may have had my problems with the last few
Pixar films, but The Incredibles was just so well
done--right down to the smallest details--and that is what makes it so much fun to watch, no matter how many times you see it.
In comparison, Astro Boy seems too timid, as if the filmmakers weren't very confident in the tone of their
film, much less in dealing with the small details.
There are parts of Astro Boy begin to soar, just like the old cartoons,
only to sputter out and get bogged down in a stale story which has Astro Boy
trying so desperately to act--as well as being accepted as--a "normal" person.
But I don’t want a sappy little pre-teen soap opera, I want to see Astro Boy
kicking butt. Tonally, the film wavers all over the place, from being a straight
on SF/action film to making lame jokes about its situations and characters as
though it were spoofing them--it seems like the filmmakers were admitting that
they’re not really taking any of this seriously. And that’s why the whole thing
just falls flat on its face. If you're a fan of the original story and/or
anime, do yourself a favor and avoid this one.
--SF
Main Review Page | Animated Film Reviews | Astro Boy
