Review of Astro Boy (2009) by Christopher A — 12 Sep 2011

The movie contains less of its interesting story and more action and battle scenes than I would have preferred. A sweet and endearing movie. Attention, kids: It's also packed with action! It's zippy, and the movie version has both a computerized sheen and handcrafted detailing. Because the details are cribbed from classics, parents can enjoy this 'toon as much as their kids. The lighting, production design, and character modeling are excellent, and director David Bowers (Flushed Away) references "Frankenstein," "Wall-E," "Transformers," and even Abraham and Isaac. But the TV series, primitive though it was, had a sweet innocence and joyfulness that made it more fun. A marvelously designed piece of cartoon kinetics.

VERDICT: "Matinée" - (Mixed reaction). These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says to pay matinée prices to see at a theatre, buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own.