Here he meets a gang of misfits lead by Cora (voiced by Kristen Bell) who has run away from home but still yearns to reach out and call her parents. Cora and her friends live with Ham Egg (voiced by Nathan Lane) who likes to repair robots only to have them be part of his own “Robot Wars” where they proceed to fight and destroy each other for the sake of entertainment.
When Ham Egg decides to put Astro Boy himself into the “Robot Wars” everyone finds that maybe robots are able to mimic human emotion and aren’t meant for the scrapheap after all. When the evil plot is discovered that General Stone wants to start a war between humans and robots so that he himself can save the day and win an election, Astro Boy must return to the surface to defend the people and defeat General Stone.
If the script sounds like a huge hodgepodge of far better movies it’s because it really is. Everything from Spider-Man and Wall-E to The Incredibles and Pinocchio are stolen from at a moment's notice. Most kids might not care but it shows a complete disregard for originality and undermines children’s intelligence.
Most of these issues are possibly to blame on director Bowers' co-writer Timothy Harris. He has brought upon us the likes of some lackluster scripts. While some were better than others (Trading Places, Brewster’s Millions, and even Kindergarten Cop), he has also “blessed” us with the likes of Twins, My Stepmother is an Alien, Pure Luck, and Space Jam. Oh sure, some of the worst offenders here were crowd pleasers, but what does that say about the general movie-going public? There are a few jokes that really do work but those are very early in the film as everything begins to fall apart minute by minute.
The animation isn’t a complete bust; however, I would like to note that this is the first digitally projected screening I have ever attended that was out of focus for the entire duration of the film. Hopefully it is at least crystal clear for regular showings so that the film only puts a strain on your brain and not your eyes as well. There are far worse children’s films released every year at a continuing rate so if you’re truly interested in seeing how they’ve managed to blunder through another comic book adaptation, look no further than the most current abomination.
Photo courtesy Summit Entertainment
Article comments
1 - Respected Movie Critic
WHO THE HELL WROTE THIS REVIEW, ITS UTTER CRAP. The facts are wrong and you even managed to screw up the plot; "Tenma decides that Astro Boy is ultimately not his son and tries to banish him to the ground below" did you actually fall asleep during the movie and miss the scene where he is chased by the army, who force him to go to the surface?
this is a GOOD movie and whoever wrote this review is a douche!
2 - Cinenerd
Anyone who DOESN'T fall asleep during this movie is the general movie going public I was speaking about in my review. And so much for personal attacks huh? Man some people need to grow up and realize that a review is a personal opinion. You made yours in the first paragraph and there was no need to call me a "douche." Glad at least YOU find yourself "respected."
3 - Nick
Haha. Love your tagline for your article. "AstroTurd!"
4 - El Bicho
"you could assume that a major studio release of yet another CG-animated film would be a bad idea."
why is that?
Why would you sit through an out-of-focus film? Apparently Nick is part of your "movie-going public" since he loves "AstroTurd".
5 - Respected Movie Critic
Okay, i admit i went a bit over the top (needed to vent off a little steam) but i still think you should get your facts straight before writing a review for everyone to read.
6 - Cinenerd
It was a press screening and there was no option other than to pay to see it later and there's no way I would ever have done that.
And it wouldn't be a review unless the whole film was watched, right? RMC - that paragraph was a summation of events. I get too caught up in the synopsis at times and wanted to truncate the events in a paraphrased form.
As for Nick, he is thankfully the exact opposite of the general movie-going public since he loved that I called it "Astro Turd."
7 - ROSARITO BANDITO
Personal attacks aside, I for one value Cinenerds reviews and wait with baited breath for his next shining or shameless review of what has become of classic Hollywood!
8 - doug m
Nice of cinenerd's mom to stop by
9 - Cinenerd
My mom would never be able to figure this site out :)
10 - Dan Rush
I've been a fan of Astro Boy and Anime for 40 years and I could have written a better fan fiction than this crap of a script.
11 - sarina
i borrowed the movie from my friend and my sister played a trick on me and i missed the part when cora was i think calling her parents and i had to give the movie back, that one part was in spanish THAT SUCKED!!!