Yet again in the Quest for 75 in 2010, I hit another really good animated film.
While I’m not familiar with the half-century old manga character on which this movie focuses, the previews I saw for Astro Boy were quite enough to pique my interest. To be honest, the movie looked like a take on the Nintendo video game series, Mega Man, which I suppose in retrospect borrows quite a bit from Astro Boy.
Freddie Highmore, who provides the voice-over for the title character in Astro Boy, did a great job, but I expected nothing less. He was phenomenal the first time I saw him on screen with his role in Finding Neverland, finding a way to upstage Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet more than once. I suppose you’d say he did a decent job in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, a role which he, no doubt, got in part due to Johnny Depp (who played Willy Wonka in the film) recommending him. August Rush was another great role for Highmore, and I’ll stop with the raving about him there because
1) I haven’t seen Golden Compass,
2) this article isn’t about Freddie Highmore’s resume.
**adsense_4block**
I will admit to being in the minority in my slightly negative opinion of Nicholas Cage’s previous work, but there’s nothing to complain about with his work as Dr. Tenma, the father of Astro Boy.
Kristen Bell surprised me with a really good performance as Cora, providing a significant emotional depth to the character. I can only imagine that Freddie Highmore really enjoyed working with her.
If I weren’t 10 films behind in my Quest for 75 write-ups, I’d write more (because I wouldn’t feel so rushed, and because the movie would be fresher in my mind – as I actually saw the film a month ago).
Recommendation: Watch it, no matter who you are… unless you hate animated films. It’s not the greatest movie ever, but it’s really enjoyable. I’d rank it below “Up”, but still a fun ride.
