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Astro Boy
15 years ago
Just saw Astro Boy. To be honest, everything I know about Astro Boy and Tezuka I learned from the Game Boy Advance game, which was a really great, underrated game. But that probably puts me in a good position to see the movie because I don't really care about the source material that much.
Like TMNT (which coincidentally also had a great, underrated GBA game, go figure), it was an okay movie. They captured the look of Tezuka's characters well in CG. It's obvious they took some liberties with the storyline, but the basic parts are in place. Dr. Tenma, a renowned scientist in the field of robotics, loses his son. He builds a robotic replica, but becomes frustrated and angered with "it" and disowns him because he's a mere machine in his eyes. Robot kid goes on a quest of self-discovery in an attempt to appease his father. You get the idea.
The movie was at its best when Astro Boy used his rocket boots for the first time. It was the only part in the movie that screamed, "Wouldn't it be cool to be Astro Boy?" He's screaming around the city, halfway out of control, still not entirely sure why he even has rocket boots. That was good fun.
The worst part of the movie? The politics. Why are they even here? The only thing I can figure is that the writers were trying to leverage the same Cold War mood as The Iron Giant, but horribly underestimated that movie's attention to subtlety. What's left is a parable as clumsy as "evil red energy" and "clean blue energy" would suggest. I can say with some degree of confidence that kids are not interested in a dissertation on the socio-economic implications of the military-industrial complex.
But ultimately, it's a movie that was fun while it lasted. The end of the movie has an amusing art deco postcard: "When in Hong Kong, visit Imagi Studios!" Unfortunately, this movie bombed so badly at the box office, the studio no longer exists. It wasn't deserved; I'd certainly watch this over tepid CGI like Monsters vs. Aliens any day of the week.
Now those great Orangina commercials on the other hand...
Like TMNT (which coincidentally also had a great, underrated GBA game, go figure), it was an okay movie. They captured the look of Tezuka's characters well in CG. It's obvious they took some liberties with the storyline, but the basic parts are in place. Dr. Tenma, a renowned scientist in the field of robotics, loses his son. He builds a robotic replica, but becomes frustrated and angered with "it" and disowns him because he's a mere machine in his eyes. Robot kid goes on a quest of self-discovery in an attempt to appease his father. You get the idea.
The movie was at its best when Astro Boy used his rocket boots for the first time. It was the only part in the movie that screamed, "Wouldn't it be cool to be Astro Boy?" He's screaming around the city, halfway out of control, still not entirely sure why he even has rocket boots. That was good fun.
The worst part of the movie? The politics. Why are they even here? The only thing I can figure is that the writers were trying to leverage the same Cold War mood as The Iron Giant, but horribly underestimated that movie's attention to subtlety. What's left is a parable as clumsy as "evil red energy" and "clean blue energy" would suggest. I can say with some degree of confidence that kids are not interested in a dissertation on the socio-economic implications of the military-industrial complex.
But ultimately, it's a movie that was fun while it lasted. The end of the movie has an amusing art deco postcard: "When in Hong Kong, visit Imagi Studios!" Unfortunately, this movie bombed so badly at the box office, the studio no longer exists. It wasn't deserved; I'd certainly watch this over tepid CGI like Monsters vs. Aliens any day of the week.
Now those great Orangina commercials on the other hand...
But really, the same was true for TMNT as well, wasn't it? Why anyone would throw away nearly two decades of human and mutant villains for a bizarre feudal legend about stone warriors and an immortal man that took over half a movie to explain and still made no sense is beyond me. Go back to Baxter Stockman. Go back to Shredder.