Review of Astro Boy (2009) by Chads — 24 Oct 2009
"Who's driving?" asks Toby(Freddie Highmore) to his mates in the flying vehicle's backseat, and before the reveal, the moviegoer thinks that Ham Egg(Nathan Lee) is behind the wheel, but it's the "dog", a robot named Trashcan, who leads the boy's rescue from General Stone's henchmen.
The embittered scientist, to my delight, never overcomes his prejudicial feelings about robots, even though Astro Boy saved his life at the Robot Games. Sad though it may be, the moviegoer has to make allowances for the commercial obligations that a mainstream filmmaker abides by, so it should come as no surprise when Dr.
Tenma(Nicholas Cage) brings his robot son back into the fold. The happy ending is a necessary evil, and as "ad nauseum", "Astro Boy" has one, but at least it's not an across-the-board happy ending.
During the Robot Games, where Toby squares off with machines in a duel to the "death", Cora(Kristen Bell) can hardly meet his soulful eyes, whereas her mentor never sees the inherent cruelty in this barbaric exhibition.
Toby, and all the human androids that came before him, who tried to pass themselves off as flesh and blood, are allegorical figures: light skinned blacks(like Lana Turner in Douglas Sirk's "Imitation of Life"), while the "other" robots(read: dark-skinned blacks), the revolutionaries(one quotes Malcolm X) who try to recruit Toby, don't stand a chance in the assimilation game.
They look like robots. Ham Egg's unwavering bigotry keeps "Astro Boy" real, relative to a lot of other children's movies, which would stamp out all racism with expediency.
This review of Astro Boy (2009) was written by Chads on 24 Oct 2009.
Astro Boy has generally received mixed reviews.
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