MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Astro Boy’

Summit Entertainment has tried just a little too hard to broaden the appeal of its new computer-animated feature “Astro Boy,” liberally sprinkling the kiddie picture with references that only adults will understand. The effect is closer to Dreamworks than Pixar, however: “Astro Boy” trades subtlety and emotional development for easy gags.

A reboot of the classic Japanese anime series, “Astro Boy” does not stray too far from the original’s premise. Scientist Dr. Tenma (the voice of Nicolas Cage) is driven mad by the death of his precocious son Toby (Freddie Highmore). Determined to bring the boy back to life, he implants his son’s consciousness within a state-of-the-art robot powered by a mysterious blue ball of energy.

Unfortunately for Toby 2.0, that blue energy is coveted by an evil presidential candidate/military dictator of Metro City, General Stone (Donald Sutherland). Determined to take control of the power source to run his war machines, Stone works to shut Toby down with the aid of Tenma, who has grown disillusioned with his robot son’s inability to act more like his actual child.

Toby flees to the Earth’s surface — treated as a garbage dump by the privileged denizens of Metro City, who float miles above — where he encounters a ragtag group of children led by Cora (Kristen Bell), an oddball robotics expert named Hamegg (Nathan Lane) and a sect of Trotskyist robots dedicated to freeing their brethren everywhere.

You might be wondering what a traveling troupe of Trotskyist robots is doing in a children’s film. It’s easy to see what director David Bowers was going for: The bumbling ’bots provide some comic relief for the kids and allow the parents to knowingly smile at the clever idea of socially aware machines.

A similar effect is at work with the character General Stone. He’s portrayed as a power-mad military man, a sort of anti-Obama, right down to his campaign slogan: “It’s not time for change.”

The problem with these asides is that they’re not terribly clever and have all the subtlety of a jackhammer. One of the joys of Pixar’s efforts is the way they manage to entertain both children and adults without pandering to either or stooping to obvious gags like these.

Leaving aside these ill-considered stabs at maturity, “Astro Boy” is a better kid’s movie than it has any right to be. The robots that populate Metro City and its environs are cute and clever, and the action sequences that dot the plot are high-octane, if a bit bloodless due to the overall feeling that nothing’s really at risk.

A note on voice casting: Celebrity voices are invariably distracting, especially when they’re as recognizable as these. It’s impossible to hear Dr. Tenma speak and not visualize Mr. Cage; ditto with General Stone and Mr. Sutherland. Casting directors would be better served looking for voice talent outside of Hollywood’s A-List.

★★½
TITLE: “Astro Boy”
RATING: PG
CREDITS: Directed by David Bowers
RUNNING TIME: 95 minutes
WEB SITE: https://www.astroboy-themovie.com
MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS