I should probably start this review off by saying I am a huge fan of Astro Boy both the manga and his many anime incarnations, and when the opportunity to catch an advance screening of the film this weekend came up, I jumped at the chance. Astro Boy in his most recent incarnation is the all new CG family film directed by David Bowers(Flushed Away) and starring Kristen Bell(Gossip Girl) as Cora, Nicolas Cage as Dr. Tenma, Freddie Highmore(Charlie from Charlie and the Chocolate factory) as Astro Boy and Samuel L Jackon in a short but memorable role as the giant robot Zog. The film is loosely based on the manga of the same name by Osamu Tezuka(Bonus points if you can spot his caricature in the film sporting his trademark red beret and round glasses). Osamu Tezuka is kind of like the Walt Disney of Japan, and Astro Boy is his Mickey Mouse. Astro Boy is such a beloved character in Japan, that in 2003 his birthday in the manga he was made a resident of Niiza, Sitama and it’s about time this character got some recognition stateside.
The plot of Astro Boy is very similar to manga, a few details have been changed here and there but the basics are there. Astro starts out the film as Tobio, son of Dr. Tenma head of the Ministry of Science. One day in a tragic accident while testing out a new energy source the Blue Core(which is an energy source capable of limitless power) he is killed. Dr Tenma a genius stricken with grief decides to recreate his son Tobio using the power of the Blue Core, only he is not the same as his deceased counter part. After some soul searching Tenma rejects Tobio who then must find his true purpose in life. While the story seemed to “loosely” keep to the Astro Boy story, it did seem to borrow a bit heavily story-wise from another manga Battle Angel Alita.
For a kids movie plot-wise Astro Boy is rock solid and everything seems to connect in some way or another. There really isn’t a lot plot introduced that doesn’t seem like it belongs, like some films aimed at kids.(where random things seem to come out of nowhere for some sort of tie-in or happy meal) I found the plot while not being quite as frantic paced a film as Speed Racer it accomplishes what it sets out to do in a very fast paced manor. The story is very well done and doesn’t pander to the audience they are trying to entertain, nor does it underestimate their ability to enjoy a movie that isn’t simply beautiful pictures and silly songs.
More Astro after the jump!

The musical score in the film by John Ottman, was a great orchestration that really fit the film. I was very happy that there was no teen idol of the month song tied into the film either(you know the one that is played over every part of the film with any emotion tied to it) and the one song I do remember used for a montage sequence seemed like it was an appropriate choice for the film. I can’t express my feeling of relief when those credits began to roll and we were treated to Astro Boy’s theme instead of your traditional pop ballad that seems to come standard with kid’s fare today.
The CG look of the film is amazing! It was produced by imagi a Hong Kong animation studio whom you might remember from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle CG film as well. While CG films are all the rage today due to their low cost as compared to traditional animation, something has to be said for doing it well.  The look of this film is slick and holds up with PIXAR as far as I am concerned. Tezuka is well known for his “interesting” character designs and they also did a great job bringing them to life in the 3D realm.

Now for my one nit-picky part about Astro Boy, the voice acting. I am a huge fan of anime and I really think the true test of good voice acting is the ability, for an actor to not disguise their voice so much that we don’t recognize them but to give life to the character and make us forget about the ego that voice is attached to. I really have to say my only complaint in this department would have to be Nicolas Cage as Dr. Temna or Nicolas Cage badly reading his lines(it’s really hard to believe this guy won an Oscar for best actor sometimes). He just seemed too much like Nicolas Cage for me, which really broke the believability of some of his scenes for me. I have to say that in some of the scenes where the character is dealing with the loss of his child I think the animation did a much better job for me than his voice acting conveying emotion. Other than him I thought the casting and voice work of the rest of the performers was great and I think they were able to pull you back into those scenes if you might have drifted off because of Cage.
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this film and suggest you check it out it’s great not only for the kids, but for the adult who grew up with Astro Boy as well. It’s nice to see a children’s film that is not simply constantly shooting for the lowest common denominator, but gives kids a great sci-fi adventure story that doesn’t have the parents feeling like they lost IQ points in the viewing. Astro Boy also seems like a great gateway drug if you will, for children who haven’t discovered the works of Osamu Tezuka or anime in general to get them asking questions about this great genre. I think even though this is a kids film, anime fans will also enjoy the film because it’s Astro Boy and even though they did change stuff.(which is a big NO NO in fandom) I think the heart of the story of Astro Boy is still there, and after all isn’t that all that matters?  With that I am giving Astro Boy the Geekadelphia rating of 4 out of five Star Mans. Astro Boy opens this friday nationwide! Check out the official site here! If you can’t get enough of Astro Boy D3 will also be releasing video games based on the film for the Wii, PS2, PSP and DS, I might have to pick up the PSP version for myself the official website for the games can be found here.