'Astro Boy' review

The future is so boring in this animated manga adaptation

By Matt Pais

Posted October 22, 2009

Metromix

After his son Toby is killed by a robot gone mad (Note: It's the future, and robots are our slaves), Dr. Tenma transposes the boy's appearance and memories onto a powerful robot. Soon the father can't bear to look at his not-quite-real son, the president wants control of the android and the new Toby, who can fly and is super-strong, just wants to understand his place in the world.

The buzz: Adapting "Astro Boy" from the 1950s Japanese manga series means the film has a built-in audience of ... uh ... Well, the film's target demo probably isn't familiar with the original, but maybe this piece of computer animated sci-fi (from "Flushed Away" director David Bowers and featuring the voices of Freddie Highmore, Nicholas Cage and Donald Sutherland) is more inventive than, say, "Monsters vs. Aliens."

The verdict: No, talking cleaning products are not my idea of fun (Toby occasionally encounters obnoxious robotic window washers), nor is a film with lame animation and mediocre voice work. (Kristen Bell does nicely, however, as Toby's gal pal.) The humans, none of whom have strong enough personalities to engage, look enough like people but Toby looks like a shrunken version of the Big Boy mascot, meaning his interactions with everyone never seem natural. Save for a decent visual gag or two, "Astro Boy" is a big fat flying snooze.

Did you know? One character says that saints are to the poor as women are to shoes as fat people are to donuts. Think that statement will get anyone riled up?