Reply to Thread

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

I was expecting a pretty mediocre movie story wise but I ended up liking this thing immensely. I can be a really sentimental guy at times and this hit all of the right notes for me. The visuals and action sequences were also excellent. The only problem I had with the movie was with some of the celebrity voices. I don't know how big a part of the budget it was but I think they might have been better off if they didn't go that route. Nic Cage and Donald Sutherland just didn't seem right here, imho. Personally it's a real shame that this flopped. It's a movie I'll recommend to animation loving frienRAB and family.

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

Just got Astro Boy on Blu-Ray and watched it last night. It was awesome. The animation and color palette are almost staggeringly beautiful. It's a good example of what a non-Pixar/Dreamworks studio can do even on a limited budget - if the studio has people with the artistic chops.

I'm a fan of Astro Boy in general, but not a fanatic. I haven't seen every episode of the various animes (in fact, I've seen like maybe two episodes of the 1980's version, and only 5 of the 2003 version, because I really disliked Astro's voice and re-worked personality); just wanted to mention that, because the reason I like this film version so much has nothing to do with any pre-conceptions or expectations. I just think it's a very entertaining, satisfying, touching and beautifully-animated film. Astro himself is a triumph. Thanks to his design and Freddie Highmore's voice work, he's a very sympathetic character and a very believable hero. This movie should have been received better - a LOT better - but it's cool that it did make the top ten best-selling DVD/Blu-Ray lists two weeks in a row. So it's finally getting seen, and I've heard that word-of-mouth for it is very good.

I should add that the extras on this Blu-Ray are very good. They include a history of the Astro Boy character, interviews with the cast, plus 2 new animated sequences that are pretty enjoyable. All in all this Blu-Ray is well worth the money.

I would love to see an Astro Boy sequel, or maybe even a TV series. It could happen, I guess, if even Sheen from Jimmy Neutron is getting his own show...

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

No problem. That makes sense.



I guess when it comes down to it, I never really had a strong affection for Astroboy even as a kid. The anime shows I watched on television when I was young were Marine Boy, Speed Racer and, my favorite, Battle of The Planets. I, of course, knew who Astroboy was and respectfully knew the iconic status of the character in anime history, but I really had very limited exposure growing up watching American television inbetween the release of the 60's series and the 80's series -- so I didn't see much of either incarnations. Despite this, I always liked the look of the Astroboy character and the concept of him being a very cool sci-fi version of Pinocchio (something the film A.I. borrowed from).

I should also say that, except for a few examples like The Incredibles, I'm not that big a fan of the CG-animated movies that Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks put out on a regular basis and have only in recent years gotten into them as a form of family entertainment after the birth of my son, who is now 4 (going on 5) years old. So when I heard about Astroboy, I thought it would be a pretty cool first movie to take my son to see, since he had never been to the theatre before. I suppose I can say that I didn't really have high expectations for it since I had no real sense of loyalty to what came before with the character -- I just wanted to enjoy it for what it was and I wanted my son to enjoy it, which he and I did. I think it delivered on being an enjoyable film, especially for young viewers, and it was certainly a much better film than Imagi's previous effort, TMNT.

Now, if Imagi had produced Gatchaman on the same level, I'd be one of the first to scream "FOUL!" since I'm a huge fan of The Science Ninja Team.

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

I'm worried the film's failure would hurt the 2003 series chance of getting a proper release in the US market.

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

Bat-Fan, I'm going to merge your comment with the existing talkback thread for Astro Boy since your post is just a comment on the movie and not on the actual DVD/Blu-Ray content.

As for my own comments on the film...

I watched it -- very appropriately -- on my flight to Japan for a two-week trip earlier this month.

I can't say that it was "wonderful" or that I "loved it" but I did find it entertaining and I thought it was visually interesting. But there are some flaws in theme, plot and characterization (as detailed by rabroad's review) which were hard for me as an animation fan and critic to overlook. However, it doesn't suck because it does have its moments and as I said I did find it entertaining, but they could have taken a few pages from Pixar on how to make a CG film high-qual on all levels...especially paying closer attention to characterization. They could have also cut the unnecessary political crap.

And Maxie's review doesn't mention what I felt were flaws in the casting choices. Nic Cage's performance mostly falls flat, although I'll grant he does have some nice emotional moments. However, the fact that it's Cage's voice is distracting for the entire movie -- every time Dr. Tenma opened his mouth to speak, Cage's voice pulled me out of the film. If you've ready any interviews with Cage between G-Force and Astro Boy, he idolizes Mel Blanc and I believe he wants to do more voice acting for cartoons, but IMO he just doesn't have the chops or the skill to be anything more than himself as a voice actor (without proper training). I thought he was a really poor choice to voice Tenma.

And while Donald Sutherland has portrayed many a memorable villain in his career, the character he's playing in Astro Boy is too one-dimensional and predictable and unfortunately it doesn't give Sutherland much to work with.

I can't say it's a "great" film by any means, but I did think it was at least marginally above average. It's worth a rental whether you're an anime fan or just a fan of animation.

I plan to watch it again on a screen larger than 6 inches on the back of a plane seat, and in more comfortable surroundings as well.

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

The movie wasn't bad. I was somewhat put off by all the political themes that felt shoehorned rather blatantly in. I didn't like hate it, but I just kind of rolled my eyes in annoyance. It's Hollywood, what can you do?

The whole prologue just felt like a blatant ripoff of WALLE. In some ways it didn't feel like Astro Boy anymore. It's like IMAGI was trying to make a Pixar movie and failed at doing so.

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

I saw it today, it was an enjoyable movie that at least deserves praise for trying. It didn't try to be too serious while only looking down to kiRAB when the more humorous characters appear on screen. The ending and beginning were rushed but overall it was a good movie for the kiRAB.

Compared to the other Astro Boy incarnations, it only matches the 60s TV show which was equally childish.

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

Budget

$40,000,000 (estimated)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375568/business

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

Kikaider is a totally different beast though, what with his creator missing. Astro's main issue is that he knows he's a robot and thus can never replace Dr. Tenma's real son. It's not like Cutey Honey or Kikaider where the distinction isn't visible between the creator and the creation. (Dr. Kisaragi loved his daughter all the same and Jiro's creator was missing) It's the central point of the narrative!

"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

I saw this movie recently and it was better than I thought it would be. I enjoyed it.