12:17pm Friday 5th February 2010
By Damon Smith
FROM an inauspicious beginning in a 1951 Japanese manga comic book created by Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy has become firmly embedded in popular culture around the world.
In his native Japan, the eponymous little robot has appeared on postage stamps and, in 2004, Astro Boy joined C-3PO from the Star Wars saga and Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet in the hallowed Robot Hall of Fame.
This iconic figure takes flight in a shiny, new computer-animated adventure directed by David Bowers, with a simple storyline that puts a futuristic spin on the classic tale of Pinocchio.
Dr Tenma (voiced by Nicolas Cage) is a brilliant scientist working in the crowded, airborne community of Metro City under militaristic President Stone (Donald Sutherland).
He is devoted to his son Toby (Freddie Highmore), a chip off the old block, who dies in freakish circumstances during a demonstration of a volatile dark power source called the Red Core, harnessed by Dr Elefun (Bill Nighy).
Consumed by grief, Tenma resolves to replace his son with a super-powered robot clone implanted with Toby’s memories, which will look, sound and even behave like the offspring he lost.
Astro Boy erupts to life, powered by the Blue Core, a purely positive energy source, which must never come into contact with the Red Core.
At first Tenma is delighted, referring to Astro Boy as Toby and encouraging robot servant Orrin (Eugene Levy) to do the same.
However, Stone wants to get his hands on the Blue Core and he dispatches his robots to destroy Astro Boy.
Blessed with slick animation and some frenetically orchestrated action sequences, Astro Boy has plenty of eye-popping thrills for younger viewers.
Regrettably, director Bowers and his team of animators seem more interested in technical might than emotion.
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