Common Sense Media Review
By Sandie Angulo Chen
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Action-packed adventure a fun bet for young superhero fans.
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Astro Boy
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 29 parent reviews
What's the Story?
ASTRO BOY chronicles the adventures of a weaponized robot (voiced by Freddie Highmore) created by grieving scientist Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) in the exact likeness of his deceased son, Toby. The distraught scientist, whose son died during a dangerous demonstration for Metro City's war-mongering General Stone (Donald Sutherland), allows Astro Boy to believe that he's really Toby ... until the boy accidentally falls out of a window and realizes he can fly. Escaping from a now-remorseful Dr. Tenma before he can shut him down, Astro Boy lands in the "garbage heap" below Metro City that is the over-polluted Earth. He runs into a band of orphans led by Cora (Kristen Bell) and Sludge (Moises Arias), who live with Ham Egg (Nathan Lane), a seemingly kind pseudo-adoptive father who runs a Coliseum-like show where robots battle to the death. When Astro Boy is outed as a robot, he must fight for his life again -- and summon the courage to save everyone from General Stone's nefarious plans to start a bloody war.
Is It Any Good?
Director David Bowers (Flushed Away) isn't revolutionary in his approach to animation, but he has a keen eye for action sequences. He also cleverly captures the comedy and tragedy of a robot who thinks he's a boy who realizes he's a superhero. Highmore has the perfectly sweet, emotive voice to play Astro Boy, and Cage sounds appropriately haunted as Dr. Tenma, who really just wants his son back. The scene-stealers are Sutherland and Lane, both of whom provide the movie's laughs by playing their characters as amusing and incredibly twisted egomaniacs.
Equal parts AI, Pinocchio, and WALL-E, Astro Boystrongly recalls each with its themes of a robot clone made for a grieving parent, an artificial boy wanting to become real, and the scary prospect of a future in which Earth becomes nearly uninhabitable and people must live somewhere else completely dependent on technology.But kids will be mostly unaware of these heavier themes,except for those who understand the obvious allusion to Pinocchio. Older viewers will get a kick out of the deceitful, hawkish General Stone, whose campaign slogans ("It's Not Time for Change") and outright desire for war are reminiscent of George C. Scott's General Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove. Astro Boy may not launch a thousand sequels, but its humor and boy-friendly superhero premise make for an entertaining diversion.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Astro Boy compares to other superheroes. He's created as a robot with special powers, rather than born or accidentally transformed. How does Astro Boy accept (as Spider-Man says) that with great power comes great responsibility?
Do you think the movie's more mature themes will resonate with kids? What other movies touch on issues related to technology, pollution, war, and the like? Is this appropriate material for a kids' movie?
How is Toby's death handled? Many children's movies feature the death of a parent, but it's rare for the death of a child to be included. Kids: Would you have preferred for Toby to be transformed into Astro Boy rather than die?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 23, 2009
- On DVD or streaming: March 16, 2010
- Cast: Freddie Highmore , Kristen Bell , Nicolas Cage , Samuel L. Jackson
- Director: David Bowers
- Inclusion Information: Female actors, Black actors
- Studio: Summit Entertainment
- Genre: Family and Kids
- Topics: Superheroes , Adventures , Robots
- Run time: 94 minutes
- MPAA rating: PG
- MPAA explanation: some action and peril, and brief mild language
- Last updated: February 18, 2023
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