Astro Boy Movie

The Astro Boy Movie is a 2009 remake of the classic 1980s kids television show Astro Boy. There have been a couple of renditions of this series over the past 30 years, beginning with a black & white version, followed by a color remake in the early 80s, a 2003 modern adaptation, and then this movie. Needless to say that in the franchise the original 1980s black & white and color versions are the best. While I did enjoy this movie for the most part on its own, it couldn't hold a candle to the originals and even the 2003 remake. While the plot was relatively marred with holes in comparison to the original, I was surprisingly impressed with the ability of the writers to accurately capture so many of Astro's redeeming qualities from the series. I won't go into details on the actual plot, mostly because it was a train wreck. Astro's friendly personality and the struggles with coming to terms with accepting that he is a robot were what really kept me engaged throughout this film.

The greatest element that this film brought to the table were the graphics. This is what grabbed my attention in the first place and actually enticed me to give this film a chance after the negative reviews that I had heard. The 3D animation was well executed and high quality. While not the "best" out there, it certainly does contend.

My overall impressions of this movie are that it was entertaining in its own right. Being a fan of the Astro Boy franchise I very well couldn't pass up the opportunity to watch this film regardless of how "good" or "bad" it was. For kids it certainly is something to entertain, primarily because they will not have the history behind the series that an older audience such as myself might have. I will close this off by saying that for a movie adaptation of a series it rates up there with inaccuracies like many other adaptations, however, it is still entertaining in its own right and worth taking the time to check out.