Movie Review: Astro Boy

For an animated kids movie, “Astro Boy” sure is deep. The story of the pointy-headed, short pants-wearing boy robot takes on tolerance, environmentalism, love and corruption.

Of course, the movie is another one of those kids movies that really isn't for kids, at least not young ones. Still, even this grown-up, while appreciating the film's scope and aesthetic, found “Astro Boy” a little tedious.

The story takes place in Metro City, which floats above an abandoned Earth. Metro City's humans are served by robots created by Dr. Tenma (voiced by Nicolas Cage); Earth is a dumping ground for old robots.

Tenma has a son whose genius he nurtures. Unfortunately, that's all Tenma nurtures; robots show more softness than the doctor. One tragic day, the boy's curiosity gets him killed when he's accidentally locked in a room where Dr. Tenma's and Dr. Elefun's (Bill Nighy) experiments (a good blue power source and a bad red power source) are being corrupted by the sinister president of Metro City (Donald Sutherland).

Distraught and guilt-ridden, Tenma uses a strand of his son's hair and the blue power source to re-create the boy as a robot. The robot (Freddie Highmore) looks like his son, even has his memories. But Tenma soon comes to believe his act was foolish; he can't re-create his child. He rejects the robot, casting him out and setting him on his journey to become a robot hero.

Astro ends up on the abandoned planet where he befriends other outcasts he thinks are human and gains a father figure in Hamegg (Nathan Lane); the evil president, consumed with being re-elected, wants to hunt down Astro.

The complicated plot makes the film seem too long. And because it's a bit talky and complex, I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids. Despite scenes of levity, “Astro Boy” can be kind of dark. Although the violence isn't explicit, the son does die at the beginning and the villains make multiple attempts to kill Astro Boy (and they go all out trying).

A 3-D version of the film in properly equipped theaters, but even in two dimensions, the manga-style Metro City looked was nicely rendered. It had a cool retro feel, a 1950s-ish representation of the future.

“Astro Boy” has a lot on its mind and, in the end, is successful in sharing its thoughts. But a little editing might have made the medicine go down easier.