While there are better animated films out there, Astro Boy is a long way from being down there with the worst. Coming from someone who loves animation dearly and only know the TV series by name(really need to get round to seeing it),Astro Boy was a good film that could have been even better. The bright spot about Astro Boy is the animation which is just wonderful, full of detail, beautifully modelled character designs and vivid colours, and the music, which has a rousing sweep to it, also shines. The dialogue is smart and intelligent, the comic relief is actually amusing and doesn't feel misplaced at all and the more emotional parts don't come across as mawkish. The story generally works, of course it is formulaic and can drag from trying to do too much(as well as having an ending that is too at odds with the rest of the film) but the heart and charm is there as well as a fun and sweet nature. There are a lot of action sequences too and they are very exciting without bogging things down too much. Credit also is due for incorporating darker adult themes and doing them in a way that doesn't jar and gives the film emotional impact and heart, the beginning is downbeat, but anybody will relate to and be moved by it. The characters generally do engage, especially the endearing protagonist. And generally the voice work is very good, although Bill Nighy felt out of place and Nicolas Cage had a tendency to be too monotone. Freddie Highmore is perfect in the protagonist role, Donald Sutherland seems to be enjoying himself as the villain, Charlize Theron and Kristen Bell are decidedly sincere and Nathan Lane and Matt Lucas are great fun. In conclusion, good but could have been more. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Toby Tenma is a boy living in the futuristic floating citystate Metro City. It's a world of robots spearheaded by Toby's often-absent father Dr. Tenma, the famous roboticist head of the Ministry of Science. Toby is smart, overconfident and inquisitive. Dr. Elefun discovers a new power source from space called the Blue Core. By developing it, its opposite of chaotic violent energy Red Core is created. Dr. Tenma's weapons test get hijacked by incompetent leader President Stone who installs the Red Core. Toby sneaks in and gets killed by the military robot the Peacekeeper. Suffering from grief, Dr. Tenma creates a robot replacement with Toby's memories and the Blue Core. However he doesn't live up to expectations and Tenma rejects him. President Stone tries to recover the Blue Core but Astro Boy tumbles off the city onto the surface. He finds discarded robots and a bunch of orphans led by Cora and adult Hamegg who thinks that Astro is actually a boy. Hamegg accidentally scans Astro and realizes that he's a robot. Hamegg forces Astro to fight in gladiator bouts with other robots.

The biggest problem is that the movie introduces the boy and then kills him off 10 minutes later. They should make Toby a memory instead. This should be only about Astro Boy anyways. Also killing off a boy is something I wouldn't do in a kiddie movie. It's a real bummer. The story owes a lot to Pinocchio and feels unoriginal because of it. The animation is colorful and fun. I'm sure kids could enjoy the energetic visuals. Once Astro Boy gets on the surface, the movie is fine. However this does feel schizophrenic with one part kiddie movie and the other part something more serious.

Super-surreal cartoon about a little boy who's love for science took him further than he could ever use in his young imagination. His father serving as a current head of the "Ministry of Science" in the mystical island of Metro City is coerced into utilizing the spheres of energy for political gain. During the experiment the little boy gets caught in the experiment and winds up being an unfortunate casualty. Out of his grief, the father decides to re-create a replica of his lost son in the form of a robot with powers and ability way beyond the expectations of himself and the whims of the politician. This is an incredible journey that you would not want to miss! Please see this!