truth be tell i be not too acquaint with astro boy and other than read up here and there and and see how popular he be in kyoto that his stature appear almost everywhere near the main jr station . which of course the film have suit me fine and approach it without baggage to watch an origin story right down to how astro boy lose his shirt for that naked upper body iconic look . star scientist tenma ( nicholas cage ) of metro city spend an enormous time on his job and neglect his extremely bright son toby ( freddie highmore ) . a lab accident spell the death of the boy and and in grief and taman create a cloned robot of his son and and hey presto and astro boy be conceive and a tenma put into this robot a whole slew of self defense weapon from his butt machine gun ( no kidding . ) to the iconic boot rocket booster and because of a guilt reflex that he have let down his son and and have leave him expose without be there to protect him properly . there be enough of the usual theme here in this 94 minute movie which make it pretty accessible and such a life and death and destiny and the yearning for friendship and acceptance and of who you be and and for others to see beyond oneself with prejudiced notion and which for astro boy case and the misconception of a robot without heart nor emotion . power by some blue energize meteor and it like a tale of renewable energy source that spell the future of mankind effort in maintain a paradise that be metro city and though the by product waste in red energy be fairly unstable and and make for a good source of power for the evil president stone ( donald sutherland ) and his warmongering robot ironically call the peacekeeper and in a kooky plan for re election . and war . narratively and this film be safely stick in safe mode throughout and and there be some shade of other super power film that can be see here and such a an end mimicking pixar the incredibles and or inspire by bryan singer superman return in that atlas lift of a troubled and enormous piece of land and and what every self respect origin super hero movie will have and a montage or set action sequence of the initial discovery of power and which allow for astro boy to show off in some way and his uncanny ability and some of which though you will have to wait until the final battle for it to be discover and and exploit . needless to say and in between the set action sequence and the film sag a little in the middle act a it try it very best to humanize this robotic boy and and the introduction of a myriad of human child and robotic character and in it to interact with our titular hero and with the latter insert nothing more than for some cheap laughter and like requisite jester . but when the action scene be very well make and engaging and entertaining and that all be forgive when you see astro boy in full flight and fight and with the finale battle something of an adrenaline rush . the animator at imagi studio do a great job in deliver this film to expectation and graphic wise and and amongst all the robot and i prefer the peacemaker best amongst all the mechanical creation and give his ability for fusion which allow for one really awesome look make of a robot to grace on screen look good as well a possess enough oppose power to astro boy . an a list voice cast also help and with actor such a nathan lane and eugene levy and bill nighy and samuel l. jackson and charlize theron and kristen bell all chipping in . i would have prefer to see this in 3d and but tough luck a we would not have that version play here in the cinema . what a sight that would be and just to watch astro boy in full 3d glory and but even when without that gimmick and this film turn out to beat my expectation and and this boy really soar .