Review of Astro Boy (2009) by Nate A — 05 Apr 2010

I was a little hesitant to view this film at first. I never watched the original cartoon when I was younger, in addition, Astro Boy looked a little weird when he flies around in just his underwear -- which the movie replaced and gave him clothes to wear.

I was quite surprised while I was watching the film. It wasn't that bad. Though the voice acting needed a little work -- especially Nicolas Cage and Kristen Bell -- but the film's plot and story was understandable.

Of course, the film is not the strongest CGI animation in 2009, but it was good enough for me to actually tuned in to watch the film in its entirety. The film started out fine. A little typical. It started out in a school setting then transitioned to the more interesting metropolis known as Metro City.

One thing that bothered me a little bit was the film's pacing. Again, I have never seen the original cartoon before so I was going in being not knowledgeable of the characters and setting. Toward the middle of the film, I started to wander off.

One thing I noticed about the film was the fluctuation of good and bad moments. And trust me, you will have an easy time pin pointing when the film is getting a little boring, and you will know when the film is picking up.

For me, that was a little disappointed. I wanted the pacing to be right on. I have mentioned this before, but the voice acting was just horrible. Very cartoon-typical, but seriously, who hired Nicolas Cage for this film? His voice is very monotone, and it didn't fit with his character at all.

In addition, the young children on Earth sounded very obnoxious and a little "dumb". Obviously the film was targeted to young children. I got annoyed. But overall, the film was interesting. There were some good moments.

The film's ending battle was good. One thing I actually enjoyed was the film's musical score. Very operatic for an animated film. The film's ending kind of left room for a sequel. Hopefully that is not the case, but who knows.