Wretched robot

Cinematic debut of iconic Japanese
manga Astro Boy is hampered by a
lame childish screenplay

FUTURE SHLOCK: Astro Boy

by CHRISTOPHER SYKES

It’s dumbfounding to think that the beloved golden child of manga, Astro Boy, should hit the big screen for the first time in the autumn of 2009. Created by legendary Japanese artist Osamu Tezuka in 1951, Astro Boy and Tezuka are to Japan what Mickey Mouse and Walt Disney are to Americans: national cultural icons. There’ve been three different television series devoted to the slick-haired robot (B&W in 1963, and full colour versions in 1980 and 2003), but plans for a feature length film have come and gone over the years.

Like a lot of North Americans, Astro Boy was my first glimpse into the world of manga back in the late ’80s. I vividly remember racing home from school to watch Astro back in the good ol’ days of three channel pre-cable peasant-vision. How the times have changed. With the incredible advances in CGI, the latest reboot has never looked more vibrant. Imagi Studios (who was responsible for the ’07 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot) provides the eye candy, but most impressive is the sound design, adding much needed weight to the film’s action sequences.

While technically sound, it’s the hodge-podge script that provides the kiss of death. Seemingly overly concerned with not paying fan service to the older generation of devotees, writer Timothy Harris (Space Jam) infantilizes the screenplay with countless lame-o slapstick quips only a five-year-old could find amusing, as well as the odd incontinent robot.

As for Astro (Freddie Highmore), he’s still the good-hearted protagonist of old. Created in the image of Dr. Tenma’s (voiced by Nicolas Cage) deceased son Toby, Astro is banished from Metro City, a floating utopia above Earth, when Tenma can’t cope with the constant reminder. The Fagin-like Ham Egg (Nathan Lane) forces Astro into a Gladiator-style robot battle, which he successfully navigates only to have war-mongering Metro City mayor Stone (Donald Sutherland) attack Earth in an attempt to bolster his re-election hopes. That’s a tough day for any robot. And for me too: a nostalgic fan so disappointed that 2009’s CGI Astro Boy is a hollow shell of its former self.

ASTRO BOY OPENS
THIS FRIDAY, OCT. 23