‘Astro Boy’

In Metro City, a floating metropolis in the sky, robots cater to lazy humans in a way that will make you embarrassed to be human. It’s a bit like the futuristic setting of “Wall*E,” but “Astro Boy” isn’t sophisticated enough to pull off the social commentary, humor and warmth of that children’s movie. Instead, it’s a mediocre action pic that may amuse some 6- to 12-year-old boys, but certainly no one else.

The story centers on Toby (voice of Freddie Highmore), a precocious little squirt whose father, Dr. Tenma (voice of Nicolas Cage), is the creator of the accommodating robots. Since no child in children’s movies listens to his parents, Toby sneaks into the lab when Dr. Tenma’s associate, Dr. Elefun (voice of Bill Nighy), demonstrates the possibilities of dangerous energy forces for the power-hungry minister of science (voice of Donald Sutherland).

Toby dies when things go awry. His father gives him life again, only as a robot with superpowers, such as incredible hearing and the ability to fly. He’s now Astro Boy, and after a daring escape from the military he finds himself on Earth’s surface, where he meets a variety of local weirdoes. There’s Cora (voice of Kristen Bell), the sassy leader of a group of ragtag kids; Hamegg (voice of Nathan Lane), a robot handyman who has a history with Dr. Tenma; Zog (voice of Samuel L. Jackson), a huge robot they repair; and the Robot Revolutionary Front, who are three stooges trying to take back the night for robots everywhere.

Through it all, lessons are learned, people are saved and no one watching who’s above the age of 12 cares. It’s not that the movie does anything particularly wrong, it’s that it’s all so pedestrian. The animation is fine, but not impressive. The action scenes are amusing, but unspectacular. The story is predictable and cliché. The social messages feel stolen from other, better films (“Pinocchio,” “Robots,” the aforementioned “Wall*E,” among others). Where’s the “wow!” factor? If it were in 3-D it may have more going for it visually, but that’s a big “if.”

Director David Bowers’ (“Flushed Away,” another mediocre film) “Astro Boy” isn’t the worst animated movie you’ll see, but it is forgettable. Watching it, I tried to remember what I would’ve liked when I was a young boy, and I think the escapist fun of a boy (like me!) having superpowers and saving people is something I would have enjoyed. But I’m not younger than 12 anymore, so now I have to say “Astro Boy” is something I did not enjoy. 

— Dan Hudak is the chairman of the Florida Film Critics Circle and a nationally syndicated film critic. You can e-mail him at dan@hudakonhollywood.com and read more of his work at www.hudakonhollywood. com.

Did you know? >>This is the first time Astro Boy has appeared on the big screen. He first appeared in 1951 as a character in a Japanese comic book and was subsequently featured on his own television series that aired in more than 40 countries. Astro Boy created the standard for a new form of animation that has become world famous as anime.