Astro Boy (Part 1)

By: Brian Mah

(Some of the comments stated below contain spoilers. Please don't read if you haven't watched the movie.)

Friday, October 23rd was the US release of the highly anticipated animated movie, "Astro Boy." Astro Boy is the creation of the most well respected anime and manga artist, Osamu Tezuka. In the US, the movie is ranked 6th with a total ticket sale of $7 Million.

The movie had the best animators from Japan and the US. They also had some talented voice actors, such as Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Lane, and Charlize Theron. The film had the makings of a great-animated movie. The animation used some of the most cutting edge technology that can be used today. The story stayed faithful to the original series created by Tezuka.

Since this is a movie geared toward younger kids, much of the scenes that involve death were substituted with something less objectionable. One scene that comes to mind is the death scene of Toby. The boy was vaporized because of a rampaging robot. There was no body to be found, Dr. Tenma (Nicholas Cage) used a single strand of hair found in Toby's hat. Bill Nighy (Dr. Elefun) was the voice of reason to Dr. Tenma during the construction of Astro. Mr. Nighy was a good choice for the good doctor.

The likeness of Tezuka and his work were widely displayed in the movie. One of the scientists in the movie looked like Tezuka. One of the billboards had one of Tezuka's famous characters, a pig called Hyoutan-tsug, which was created by his little sister.

It was interesting to see and hear some of the veteran actors, such as Donald Sutherland, really get involved in the voice acting. It was refreshing to see the lighter side of these actors become the characters. At the same time you can sympathize with the actors during the low emotional points in the movie. For instance, you can tell the inflections of remorse and pain in Nicholas Cage's voice when he looses his son. It was also very impressive to hear Freddie Highmore's voice has matured as an actor.
You can hear Asto's pain when his father dejects him. For some younger audiences those scenes may be boring, but this might hit a nerve with their parents.

Nathan Lane was the comic relief as the sinister Ham Egg (In Japanese it would be translated into Hamu Tamago). It was nice seeing Mr. Lane act as a villain. You are so fooled by his coy personality that when you realize what has happened, it is too late.