Astro Boy (Reviewed by Sebastian Ng)

Borrowing from Pinocchio and Oliver Twist and totally riffing off themes from Wall-E, the movie first presents to us the history of Metro City and why it came into existence, before introducing us to precocious, good-natured kid Toby, son of genius scientist Dr Tenma, whose work keeps Metro City, err, afloat. A military science accident (hee hee) vaporises Toby (it's still a kids' movie), and a (suddenly) fatherly Dr Tenma recreates Toby in the form of an advanced android loaded with Toby's DNA-extracted memories. There's a "however". Philosophers once pondered the question: if, over the course of his Atlantic journey, Christopher Columbus replaced every plank on his ship, the Santa Maria, is it still the same ship? Unfortunately for new Toby, Dr Tenma didn't think so and expels him. Thus begins new Toby's adventures...

The best thing about Astro Boy is the story... and Freddie Highmore. Highmore's that kid who touched all our hearts in Finding Neverland, and did the Oliver Twist thing in August Rush earlier. He's done a bunch of voice acting too, and here he excels by infusing Toby with a pure, earnest heart and a genuine sense of wonderment at each new discovery of his powers. Never knew you could do that with just a voice. Other voice talents fare less well. (But what a cast! See whether you can identify Charlize Theron and Samuel L. Jackson. I couldn't.) You see, while the movie had a good set-up and many potentially touching and/or dramatic scenes, it was hampered by absolutely inane and cheesy dialogue, and for most of the voice actors (Nicolas Cage above all!), their reaction at being given such dialogue is to ham it up. ("Hey ... listen ... I am not ... your ... father. I ... created you.")

Which means that pre-puberty kids are likely to be the only ones who can enjoy the film completely. Unless you're immune to eye-rollingly corny lines. It's quite a pity, honestly. Given to Pixar (sorry... had to), it could have been a funny yet emotional tale about a robot boy surmounting increasing obstacles to earn his father's acceptance while learning a lesson or two himself (instead of the perfect protagonist that he is right now), that also comments intelligently on environmentalism, class, the laws of robotics, the politics of elections and the military-industrial complex in a way that's totally subtle. Too bad.

Produced at HK-based Imagi Animation Studios, the animation is technically adequate.

How Good I Think It Is: 5/10
How Much I Liked It: 6.5/10

Director David Bowers Cast Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland Runtime 94 mins Opens 19 Nov

Sebastian Ng studied filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood, majoring in Directing and Sound Design but spent most of his time watching movies, and attending film festivals and meet-the-filmmaker sessions. Having returned to Malaysia in 2008, he currently works as a digital production coordinator for Rhythm & Hues Studios (Malaysia). He continues to fuel his passion for film by writing reviews and other ramblings for his blog, Cinematic Concerns.