Just returned from a screening of Astroboy, and I have to say it was a very commendable, honest effort from the folks at IMAGI, with marked improvement from their previous film TMNT. While it was by no means perfect, I did enjoy Astroboy for the most part, and both me and my friends agree what could have been a truly great animation piece was only a good one, marred by somewhat weak pacing in parts, and *spoiler ahead* a random and incredulous plot element at the end of the movie. Pity.
That said, , Hong Kong based IMAGI Studios still pulled off an impressive feat with Astroboy, ( well, more than any studio in Singapore can say at least ) and I look forward to more pleasant surprises from their upcoming “Gatchaman”. Make it good !
(below) No fan of Miyazaki Hayao’s “Castle in the Sky” can miss the resemblence here – a tribute, perhaps ?
So what do you guys think of Astroboy ? :]
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Astroboy, Osamu Tezuka and Takadanobaba
Force Of Will The Movie – Morita Shuhei + Tatsuyuki Tanaka
Rango and Priscilla – Hot Toys Collectible Figures
Ghibli Studios – What Is An Animation Layout ?
Connected Official Trailer
November 9th, 2009 at 1:18 am
I loved it. My favorite animated toon this year – yes, I’m including UP and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in that group. I think it’s just as good in terms of entertainment value. And emotionally, it really grabbed me in a way those others didn’t. I wish it were doing better at the box office. It deserves to.
November 9th, 2009 at 3:23 am
There was a lot of love in the individual scenes but the story was too derivative of other recent animated films like Robots and Wall-E. I agree it is quite an achievement but they compromised in too many ways.
November 10th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Hi Vong!
Exactly what do you mean by a “good effort”, in wich terms?
I haven´t watched the film yet, for sure in december when it arrives Mexico City, but i can tell for the special footage in apple page that the movie looks pretty decent and professional, so it would be nice to hear a more deeply opinion of yours.
greetings, –incredible– blog! 😀
ps. remember TMNT scene when Leo and Raph where fighting in a rooftoop while the rain was falling, great scene!
ps2. Know nothing of Gatchaman, i would find out.
November 16th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I very much enjoyed it. I thought the screenplay was very true to the philosophically “deep” 1980’s Astroboy theme of whether robots of advanced intelligence should actually be treated as human. The fact that in resembled Spielberg’s AI in this and other respects (the robot fighting scenes) didn’t bother me, because when I saw AI I kept thinking how Astroboy had dealt with this first!
It was a sophisticated story for animation, and I thought it had a nice story arc that was very satisfying.
I don’t actually recognize what was “the random and incredulous” plot element this post refers to!
As for the animation itself: it looked fine to me, although the one character that I thought looked a little stylistically out of place was the girl.
I have no idea why it has been released out of school holidays, though. I am sure it would have done better box office it had been a holiday release.
November 17th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Jason R – I was also surprised that the film didn’t doing well at the box office – while I wasn’t expecting it to be a major hit, I do hope they make enough to continue producing new films.
Dave – Hmm pity, but I sure hope it won’t be IMAGI’s last film !
rulascalaca – Hello ! It was a great effort because there were some truly touching scenes, and the animation and production quality are also pretty good, especially for something done on a fairly modest budget.
Steve -Hello there Steve, thanks for visiting, I certainly enjoyed the film too. Perhaps “random and incredulous” weren’t the right words to describe it, but the final scene certainly felt awkward and rushed, at least to me.
November 17th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
I havn’t gotten to see the film yet, but the screens/concept art look awesome! Certainly looks like a step up from TMNT. 😛
November 19th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
The first thing I thought when I saw the promotional poster was Jimmy Neutron.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Although I have not got the chance to watch it, I did get worried about how it would perform as a remake could ruin something classic rather than to promote it (live action remakes usually suffer badly). It’s unusual to know it being done by Hongkongers, and from what you’ve said, it sounds watchable. On the other hand, it’s usually not easy to make a plot of a movie length to introduce something that’s has a long manga and anime run I’d say.
November 28th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
i’d love the picture, wonderfull movie, like a real
December 21st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I surprised when know if the lead voice of astro is Freddie Highmore, he is my idol.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
its a nice film i will c it and come back with a big comment … thanx for the post