ASTRO BOY
July 10th 2010 05:43
Category: Videos
Created by Osamu Tezuka he is the character most people who associate with the terms manga and anime whilst the man who created them is often seen as the main driving force behind these two mediums. Certainly Osamu Tezuka had a significant impact on both manga and anime; one could say that he is the motivating force behind these two mediums that has allowed them to have such an impact first on Japanese and later Western society. So much so that his character Astro Boy has become a major pop culture icon with as much appeal as Superman, Batman or even Che Guevara. Now I can’t say I’m a big fan of Astro Boy – I’ve never watched the original anime or even read any of the manga but when I heard about this film I had to admit I was curious to see what it would be like. Strangely I missed it at the local cinema, must have blinked my eyes because friends told me it came and went with nary a trace of its presence. Fortunately for me I managed to pick it up on DVD.
After sitting in front of my laptop and watching the whole one hour and thirty minutes that is the new, revamped and CGI animated Astro Boy feature I find myself somewhat perplexed. Rated PG this isn’t a family movie despite the fact that there is a fair deal of schmalz found to be oozing from its pores at various places, particularly at the end where it has a traditional schmalzy Hollywood ending. Imagine if you will Pinocchio combined with Frankenstein, US politics, Gladiator and just for good measure a dose of political correctness, preaching about discrimination and the good old laws of robotics thrown into the mix. One would wonder what Isaac Asimov would make of this production and his laws of robotics being bandied around like bubblegum cards in a playground.
I really wanted to enjoy this movie, I wanted to try and sit and watch without letting my suspension of disbelief being thrown out of the window but sadly it was not to be. Sure one can look at it and say it’s cute, its user friendly and agree with the whole PG thing and I would be wont to say that way insanity lies, and it all goes downhill from the very first scenes. Ever wondered how Astro Boy came into being? This movie deals with the origins of this iconic character and in a way it’s rather macabre, I had thought that he was a robot created by a childless scientist in much the same manner as the old wood carver creates Pinocchio. The actual unfolding of this particular important aspect of the whole Astro Boy story is not so wholesome in my mind.
It all begins with Dr Tenma, a brilliant scientist who is in charge of Metro City’s Ministry of Science, the place where they literally make things happen. Now Metro City is a somewhat Utopian metropolis that lifted off from the surface and now floats idyllically through the skies of the world. It kind of takes the whole divide between those who have and have not to new levels, the inhabitants of Metro City living a truly fantastic life in direct contrast to the poor sods who have to eke out a living in the wastelands of the surface. And much of this is achieved by the efforts of robotic labour, and much of that robotic labour is dumped over the side of the city as it floats through the skies when it becomes surplus to requirements. Consequently on the surface underneath the city there are vast swathes of discarded robots, robots no longer up to spec, robots that are broken and unusable, robots that have been superseded by newer models. Like some yobbo who tosses a lit butt out of a car window with nary a care for the consequences so too does Metro City deal with robots it no longer has any use for.
Now the good doctor is busy working on his most important project for the government of Metro City, the Peacekeeper, a combat robot that will allow the government to keep ahead of an arms race with the surface. The current president of Metro City feels that the Peacekeeper will be the means to get him re-elected, so he definitely wants the project to succeed no matter what it takes. Sadly what it takes is the death of Dr Tenma’s son Toby; he is tragically killed when the whole test goes haywire and prompts the shutdown of the prototype robot. Stricken with grief does Dr Tenma wail and moan and turn on the selfish president. No he decides to recreate his son as a robot, a robot though with a special, unique energy source the blue core. Unfortunately is unable to deal with the new offspring and refuses to see him as a sentient being, a being that needs to be loved as much as his original flesh and blood offspring did. Frankly I found this rather gruesome, it just didn’t gel for something that was rated PG but then again who am I to probe the whole concept of movie classifications and the mechanism by which the OFLC achieves such classifications.
So rejected by the man who created him Astro Boy attempts to find out where he fits into the grand scheme of things and it literally means a fall from grace so to speak. From here we get into the schmalz, the robots are your friends not mindless tools, robots are people too and similar saccharine messages that are relevant if they were delivered with a bit more oomph not used as part of ongoing gag routines or just to telegraph plot development. As far as story goes this thing is easy to work out, there is nothing new going on here that you wouldn’t have seen in any other similar style of feature from Toy Story to Shrek to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which at the end of the day is rather sad as Astro Boy is meant to be up there in terms of providing a good yarn. Sadly this is very much not the case with this current incarnation.
With a stellar cast including Donald Sutherland, Nicholas Cage, Bill Nighy, Charlize Theron you’d think that this would be a top class feature. But like I say it just doesn’t seem to really hit the right note from the get go, it is a movie whose story seems to be constantly looking around for the right moment to suddenly burst into something fantastic but never quite gets there. Kind of like a car that is constantly stalling as it moves down the highway but it doesn’t completely drop out and you’re thinking it’ll start any minute. That’s the Astro Boy movie, an animated feature that has great animation but a story that is so predictable you might as well not bother watching it to the finale as you can tell what’s going to happen.
I really wanted to enjoy this movie, I wanted to try and sit and watch without letting my suspension of disbelief being thrown out of the window but sadly it was not to be. Sure one can look at it and say it’s cute, its user friendly and agree with the whole PG thing and I would be wont to say that way insanity lies, and it all goes downhill from the very first scenes. Ever wondered how Astro Boy came into being? This movie deals with the origins of this iconic character and in a way it’s rather macabre, I had thought that he was a robot created by a childless scientist in much the same manner as the old wood carver creates Pinocchio. The actual unfolding of this particular important aspect of the whole Astro Boy story is not so wholesome in my mind.
Now the good doctor is busy working on his most important project for the government of Metro City, the Peacekeeper, a combat robot that will allow the government to keep ahead of an arms race with the surface. The current president of Metro City feels that the Peacekeeper will be the means to get him re-elected, so he definitely wants the project to succeed no matter what it takes. Sadly what it takes is the death of Dr Tenma’s son Toby; he is tragically killed when the whole test goes haywire and prompts the shutdown of the prototype robot. Stricken with grief does Dr Tenma wail and moan and turn on the selfish president. No he decides to recreate his son as a robot, a robot though with a special, unique energy source the blue core. Unfortunately is unable to deal with the new offspring and refuses to see him as a sentient being, a being that needs to be loved as much as his original flesh and blood offspring did. Frankly I found this rather gruesome, it just didn’t gel for something that was rated PG but then again who am I to probe the whole concept of movie classifications and the mechanism by which the OFLC achieves such classifications.
So rejected by the man who created him Astro Boy attempts to find out where he fits into the grand scheme of things and it literally means a fall from grace so to speak. From here we get into the schmalz, the robots are your friends not mindless tools, robots are people too and similar saccharine messages that are relevant if they were delivered with a bit more oomph not used as part of ongoing gag routines or just to telegraph plot development. As far as story goes this thing is easy to work out, there is nothing new going on here that you wouldn’t have seen in any other similar style of feature from Toy Story to Shrek to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which at the end of the day is rather sad as Astro Boy is meant to be up there in terms of providing a good yarn. Sadly this is very much not the case with this current incarnation.
With a stellar cast including Donald Sutherland, Nicholas Cage, Bill Nighy, Charlize Theron you’d think that this would be a top class feature. But like I say it just doesn’t seem to really hit the right note from the get go, it is a movie whose story seems to be constantly looking around for the right moment to suddenly burst into something fantastic but never quite gets there. Kind of like a car that is constantly stalling as it moves down the highway but it doesn’t completely drop out and you’re thinking it’ll start any minute. That’s the Astro Boy movie, an animated feature that has great animation but a story that is so predictable you might as well not bother watching it to the finale as you can tell what’s going to happen.
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