Astro Boy
Year: 2009
Rating: PG
Length: 94 minutes / 1.57 hours
There’s no doubt that Astro Boy was one of the foundational anime series that helped establish the genre we have today. Like other well-known anime like Speed Racer, this anime finally received a movie adaptation in the late 2000s. Having only a cursory knowledge of the source material, I can’t say how faithful Astro Boy (2009) is to its origins. In my opinion, there’s always room for anime adaptations, since it’s honestly a fairly untapped market. As for this adaptation, it’s a fun movie that has quite a bit of heart despite being shockingly dark at a few key moments.
As is the case for a lot of animated films, the celebrity voice acting is fine here. It’s probably even a bit above average. However, voices like Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, and Nathan Lane are so recognizable as to almost make it distracting when their characters are speaking. Similarly, the animation is fine—nothing to write home about except for some superb action sequences sprinkled throughout. At a minimum, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) looks the part and sounds how he should.
Recalling that I liked this movie when it came out, I eventually showed it to my daughter. It’s definitely geared toward older kids despite the main character looking like a young boy. I wasn’t quite prepared to discuss topics like parents losing their children or self-sacrifice with my daughter, so that’s on me. I had to assure her that everything was going to be OK in the end, because there are moments which can be quite scary. Overall, it’s a charming movie that gives me some sparkle of hope that we’d get to see a Mega Man movie someday (or at least something longer than a Secret Level episode).
An above average anime adaptation, I give Astro Boy 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
