"Astro Boy (2009)" Talkback (Spoilers)

He might have been, but, except for a story concerning the Vietnam War, he pretty much kept most political sensibilities out of his manga. His main themes were compassion, tolerance and peace (although given all the butt-kicking Astro got involved in, that quality was mostly just given lip service throughout the manga's run. ) PLUS, the incident I referred to was extremely topical and will likely seem very dated in a very short time. And Astro should not be treated as a political tract. JMHO.
 
Pluto didn't shy away from topical themes, but the tone of the work was completely different than something from the writer of freaking Space Jam. You can't do that sort of thing and not be called out on it.

Once again, Pluto would have been a billion times better script source. Or at the very least, Omega Factor. This jurabled, plodding, overly political mess looks like the result of studio infighting.
 
I sorta figured it out that was the case and didn't think too far into politics like some probably did.


Sad really. I wasn't sure what to make of the Tezuka cameo either way but felt it was wrong for them to go that direction.
 
^^
no way dude, If they wanted to do something like that then they might as well have just adapted Pluto instead of Astro Boy, though Astro Boy is barely the main character there.
 
Wait what? I thought both anime fans and mainstream critics loved it. The only real negative review I heard about it was from a mainstream critic.
 
Well the last two days had been me going through Omega Factor and I even said that it was better than this film could deliver me. It was boring, filled with uninteresting characters and don't tell me there wern't any in this film, and despite the so-called politics which I didn't know existed in this film, everything was pretty stale. Granted, I liked how in the 2003 series, Tobio, I believe, was hit by a car compared to being disintergrated by the Peacemaker. We don't see Tobio as a pile of dust but it was as if he was absorbed which was something one of us brought up in an earlier comment. Since the Peacemaker could abosrb humans into its system, it would've been a big twist if Tobio, I'm sorry, Toby, came out of it the same time it spat out Pres. Stone.

Even I have to agree with the ANN review of the film when it comes to the red and blue orbs. The writers must've been so excited of seeing Astro Boy take off on its way for an all-new franchise that they forgot along the way that if anyone brings the orbs together, we die. If they're both in a giant robot that one politician wants to use for his ego-glorifying ways, then it's no biggie. He won't get destroyed when being sucked inside it and the rest of the world wouldn't be destroyed. Just a couple of buildings being crushed and absorbed would be all that these orbs would do to us.

I just don't see the love for the movie at all. I didn't care for Cora, more so than when I read about her being introduced in the film many months ago. I didn't care for her little rag-tag group of frienRAB who were nothing more than a bunch or munchkins raised by Nathan Lane who have the minRABet of "No parents=fun and going bananas" which is something we really need to get out of our heaRAB right now. When it comes to writing about kiRAB, aren't we all getting tired of them having to cause mischief in the background or just being depicted as a bunch of rugrats, no pun intended.

And by gosh, I hated, emphasis on HATED, the RRF or whatever ya called them. Ya know, those guys who thought they could start a robot revolution against humans? Those three guys were pretty much the case of "sidekick-itis" that had been popular for most films, live-action or animated. They just came to me as annoying and not very funny. The only thing that made me laugh was the prologue that I also read on this thread was ripping off the one from Wall-E.

No matter how some of us will complain about the film, it'll pretty much gain a cult anyway. For a icon that had been with us for over 50 years, he deserved better. Even moreso, I'm surprised that CN or Boomerang didn't bother to show anything from AB whether it would be the '60s series on [adult swim] again or even the 2003 series despite not having the best dub in the world. (Why Sony, why? You can have good dubs like Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, and Stearaboy, but when it came to Astro Boy, what were you guys thinking?!) The film was alright to see in theaters once, but I'm not buying it on DVD come next year. Only when it hits CN would I might lay my eyes on it again.
 
I suppose I was warned. I'd read reviews of the film that disdainfully mentioned the blatant political references, but I thought: "Ahhh, you can read anything into anything. People are so oversensitive these days. Especially merabers of the press." So I ignored it. Especially when some of the criticism concerned the supposed partisan meaning of the blue "good" core energy and the red "bad" core energy used to power robots in the film. I mean, come on! Red is a more menacing color than blue! You might as well interpret the red core to be syrabolic of Red China or Russia. Get a grip, people!

But then the bad guy in the film says "I have to start a war! I'm running for re-election!" and calls his opponent a "hippie" and blah blah. And, well, heck, I could have shrugged that off too. Politicians have been portrayed in various forms of media as evil power-grabbers for centuries. Was Drakken a Republican? Is Doofenschmirtz a Democrat? Is Shredder a Libertarian? Who knows or cares!!! So whatever.

But then...in this one scene, the writers have the bad guy politician getting ready to make a speech on this outdoor pavilion. And there's this bunting out the pavilion, and on it says, in blue letters: "IT'S NOT TIME FOR CHANGE."

Oh my god. I could not believe my eyes. How dare they? How could these writers foist their political agenda so blatantly into a children's film, and an Astro Boy film at that? He's from Japan! What does Japan care! I mean come on! This is unbelievable. I'd expect this kind of thing from Family Guy, but in a kid's movie? It almost makes you believe those right-wingers when they claim that the left is trying to indoctrinate our children. It was so freaking over-the-top, so unnecessary, so inappropriate, so not funny. And worst of all...it completely killed the mood. I wasn't the only one in that one-quarter-filled theater picking his/her jaw up off the floor. I was stunned at first, and then mad. How DARE those writers disrespect Tezuka's creation that way? Are the Hollywoodites so completely and soppily in love with our President that they've gone completely off their nut?

And the sad thing is, wonderful things happened before that scene, and wonderful things after...but my joy was dampened, and the people around me were a lot quieter than they had been before. When the film ended, everybody got up and left, muttering.

I mean, whatever your political orientation (for the record, I'm an independent. I've voted 3 times so far in my young life, and for both parties), I don't see how anyone could not be offended and angry over the politicizing shoehorned into this otherwise enjoyable movie. I'm still upset about it, and it almost...it almost makes me glad this movie has tanked because THEN maybe Hollywood, which worships the dollar even more than they seem to worship this President, will learn that you don't inject a topical, political reference into a family film where it doesn't belong!

I. Am. So. Ticked. Off.

If it hadn't been for that scene, I was ready to call Astro Boy the Iron Giant of our time. A thoughtful, heartwarming, uplifting, poignant thrill ride of a movie that has been inexplicably ignored by the general public.

I'm sad. I hate to see this happen. Why, Hollywood, WHY?


Are you sure that "change" line wasn't just a play on a famous campaign motto instead of an actual view shared by the people writing the movie? I hate tacked on, thinly veiled political garble as much as the next person, but I didn't see the big deal with that.
 
Imagi handles the story stuff too? I thought that some other company comes up with the storyboarRAB and writing, while Imagi is commissioned to do the actual 3-d animation & graphics.

I want to see it anyway for the Imagi eye candy.
It can't be THAT bad, but I'm going to check general public scores after it's out before choosing this over Where the Wild Things Are.
 
If it was just a play (on worRAB), it was too obvious a play. By using a phrase from Obama's campaign to characterize the "good guy" candidate, it made it appear that the film was pushing a political agenda or point of view. Whether that was intentional or not, the effect was jarring and, as others have pointed out, kind of obnoxious. I really wish they hadn't done it. It did not enhance the movie one bit and has apparently annoyed other moviegoers besides myself. And I really think that it's beneath the spirit of Astro Boy to inject it with that kind of would-be humor, whether there was a specific intent behind it or not.

But there is some good news about Astro Boy: I just read that it's the top movie in China right now; in fact, it broke recorRAB, topping the boxoffice take of the last record-breaker Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I'm so glad it's not a total failure. My dislike of the political shout-outs in the film does not prevent me from loving everything else about it.
 
Well, it depenRAB on what your expectations are. The movie pretty much fulfilled mine, and I'm a big Tezuka fan. But I gotta say...even though the review is negative, and I disagree with just about all of it, I have to admit that pic and headline are hilarious. Well done, Maxie!
 
From the mixed critic response, this movie is a "see for yourself" type of deal. But that should be done anyways, regardless. Everyone's opinions are different.
 
Pretty much judging any CGI movie not made by Pixar to them dooms the former to an unfavorable comparsion, even if it's not meant to be taken that way.

Astro Boy is a good movie. It's not great...hell, it's got plot holes huge enough you could preform Final Fusion in to form GaoGaiGar and WTF moments made just to give Astro a dramatic pose. But is has great voice acting (even Cage as Tenma has his moments) and Highmore really seems to put his best into expressing the open honestry of Astro as he comes to terms with who and what he is and isn't.

The plot needed some tweeks and I'd say another 20 minutes for a little more depth in some scenes, but overall it's a good attempt at re-imagining a classic for a new generation.

Astro Boy is not without it's flaws, but it's a good attempt and thanks to the colors, beautiful animation and voice work it's worth seeing in theaters at least once.
 
Well these guys seemed to like it:

http://my.spill.com/profiles/blogs/astro-boy-audio-review

And quite frankly, I find their reviews much better than whoever reviewed the movie at ANN.
 
Imagi has a studio in California that handles (poorly) pre-production, which includes script writing, and storyboarding. Main production is done at the main studio in Hong Kong.
 
I guess I'm alone here, because I actually enjoyed the movie. It was more faithful than I thought, and they did make use of the star system. The animation was good, the Tezuka characters transferred well in the 3-D style. Hyoutan-Tsugi appearing on billboarRAB everywhere was awesome. Tezuka as a assistant scientist was cool too. It's nice to know the makers had knowledge of Astroboy, and Tezuka. I honestly didn't see the twist with Ham-Egg, though I might be alone here.

The climax of the film mirrors the [spoilers]ending of the 1960's series, where Astroboy sacrifices himself to save earth[/spoilers]. And the last scene was very in the vein of a typical 1960's Astroboy episode.

What I didn't like were the original characters. The producers should've made better use of the Star System. I think Cora would've stuck out less if she was designed from Melmo or Princess Sapphire. Same goes for the kiRAB, and the president. The new characters clashed with the ones from the Star System. The political stuff didn't bother me, although I thought it could've been handled better. The jokes were used awkardly too, especially during the climax.

It's a shame this movie borabing. Although it doesn't seem to have alot of promotion. Mcdonald's is giving out Astroboy toys, but I yet to see a commercial. I haven't seen any toys or anything ether. Even for the movie, I think I only saw two commercials on Cartoon Network.
 
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