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Copyright © 2009 Flaming Dog Media, LLC. All rights reserved. |
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Blast Off, Boys & Girls! |
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Despite the traffic issues with I-35 South and
the access road (seriously, shuttin' down the lower deck AND
narrowin' the access road to a single lane?!), I made it to the
Regal Metropolitan in time for the free screenin' of ASTROY BOY this
afternoon. There was a bit of a line, and most of the adults
there had a kid with them. Miniposters and buttons were handed
out on the way in, and there was a table set up where two women
offered kids to "Get Your Hair Like Astro Boy's - Win a
T-Shirt!" Can't begin to guess how much hair gel was used
to do that! And my button has the robotic dog, Trashcan, on
it...not sure if other buttons had other characters, didn't think to
ask.
Found my seat, and waited patiently, readin', for
the screenin' to begin. The theater was almost full, and, at
one point, an older, middle-aged-ish guy came in, carryin' a tray of
drinks & popcorn, sayin', "If you're my mommy, could you
please stand up?" A woman on the front row turned, and waved
her husband over to join her & the kid with her on the front
row, and those of us close enough to catch the whole thing got a
giggle out of it.
The house lights came down slowly, I'm guessin'
to signal the kids that the movie was startin' soon, and then,
without a trailer or anything, ASTRO BOY!
The set up is givin' as a tourist-y, isn't this
all so great video which, as it ends, is bein' shown to a class full
of children that includes Toby. It seems that as the Earth
became polluted, the citizens of a city decided to separate
themselves from the rest, and raised Metro City (which includes
skyscrapers, a tram system and a mountain) into the air.
Robots assist in the day to day livin' of the people of the city,
and, from what can be seen, its a self-sustainin' place, though they
do dump the city's garbage over the edge, to let it fall to Earth's
surface.
Toby's father, Dr. Tenma, is developin' a new
"peacekeeper" for the Metro City's president &
military. The president is a war monger, who wants to use the
new technology, combined with a new, rare form of negative energy,
to declare war on the surface and assure his re-election.
Durin' the demonstration, Toby sneaks into the test area, and is
killed.
Grief-stricken, Tenma uses his knowledge of how
to build robots and a DNA sample from the cap left behind to create
a replica of his son. He then decides he will home-school
Toby, an idea that fails on the first day, because he doesn't treat
the new Toby as an actual child, but as a subject to be tested.
Soon after, Toby discovers he's not a boy, as he
remembers, but a machine.
Toby is then kicked out of the house, because his
father realizes he made a mistake creatin' him in the first place.
After bein' chased by the military, since he is powered by the new,
rare form of positive energy, Toby is blown over the edge of Metro
City, to the surface below.
There, he makes new friends, includin' the Robot
Revolutionary Front, gains a pet, is given the name Astro, and is
forced to fight in a gladiator-like arena against other robots.
This, of course, attracts the Metro City authorities, and they take
Toby back, where Tenma is forced to choose to follow orders or help
the robot he created in his son's image.
His decision, of course, leads to a confrontation
between Astro and the Peacekeeper, and changes Metro City, hopefully
for the better.
So, before seein' this movie, the most I knew
about ASTRO BOY is that its the oldest anime ever and what was in
the trailer. With that in mind, I can't say how close this is
to the origin as shown fifty years ago. A buddy of mine tried
to explain it last night - a scientist's son is killed, the
scientist makes a robot to replace his lost son. It sounded
tragic to me, and more than a little like the '80's movie D.A.R.Y.L.
I thought the grief of Tenma was handled well,
especially for an animated movie that is aimed at kids.
I had to wonder about a city havin' a president
instead of a mayor or even a governor, or maybe even just a made up
title that wouldn't mean anything other than the guy in charge.
And IMDB.com credit's Donald Sutherland's character as
"general" instead of president, so, go figure...
The animation style reminded me more of BATTLE
FOR TERRA than anything else, and, like with that movie, there is a
top name voice cast that includes Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Bill
Nighy, Charlize Theron, Eugene Levy & Nathan Lane. At
least here, I could tell more or less who was voicin' who durin' the
film.
Also, there is only one musical montage, when the
kids get together to clean up & paint an old construction robot
for the robot games. Even better, no pop songs were harmed
durin' the makin' of the movie
While there are a few jokes for adults to catch
(the teacher has a book, "Mathematics - Its Not All
Boring!", the soldiers helmet screens flash suit updates,
including "Bodily Fluids Released"), this is definitely a
kids movie, though not as simplistic as BATTLE FOR TERRA was a few
months ago. There were a couple of restless kids in the
audience, but they seemed excited enough when the movie ended after
an hour and a half (almost to the minute!).
No doubt, the studio is hopin' for a sequel,
since ASTRO BOY sets up the main characters origins and his support
network of friends, family & other robots.
Tom Sharp
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