Astro Boy: The Movie - A Complete Anime Guide Review

Wondering if you should go see the new Astro Boy movie?

Apparently, so were a lot of anime fans.

Although Astro Boy didn't fare well against some of the other releases hitting the box office, it hung tight about midway on the box office top 10. Read the many reviews and you'd find a mixed bag of comments, some from those who said the flick was fine while others gave it a big thumbs down.

So why the mixed reviews?

For some long-time anime fans, Astro Boy didn't live up to expectations. Not because the CGI isn't good... it's actually great. And not because the story is too dark or too scary for younger kids. Quite the contrary, Astro Boy is a perfect solution for a family-friendly movie.

So, why all the fuss?

If you're familiar with the original Astro Boy anime series, then you'd understand. The movie is based "loosely" on Osamu Tezuka's 1963 anime series but the new adaptation takes quite a few liberties with the storyline. Dr. Tenma for example, has a change of heart in the movie and tries to help and protect his new robot boy creation. This didn't happen in the original series -- in fact, Dr. Tenma sold Astro to a circus when he realized that Astro would never fill the shoes of his real son.

There's also the addition of President Stone, ruler of Metro City who has a serious political agenda that revolves around harnessing the power of the "blue core energy" -- the energy that powers Astro -- and using it to power a military robot and start a war.

But before you listen to all that fuss, I'm going to ask you to give this one a chance. Astro Boy is a beautiful work of CGI brilliance. The storyline, although different from the original series, is still really well done and makes for a happier movie, an important feature if you're taking young ones to see it.

Find out why I think Astro Boy is the perfect family-friendly anime flick here.