If you were to ask any Gen Z fan of Astro Boy how they got into the fandom, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who says anything besides its 2009 CGI film rendition. But ironically, for the past 2 times that I’ve surveyed the fandom, 3 out of 5 fans consider it to be their least favorite rendition. Why is that? Well, many argue it comes down to the poor writing and acting in the movie, as well as how different it is compared to renditions of the past. Despite this, I was inspired by newly cropped up blogs dedicated to talking about the 09 movie– even going as far as defending it. So, I decided to give the movie a rewatch and talk about my overall thoughts.

Now, as a disclaimer, I will say that I too did discover Astro Boy through the 09 movie. That said, it is not the sole reason why I joined the fandom. This does, however, mean that I am susceptible to bias. So I’ll be trying my best to hide it whilst writing this review. This is also not meant to sway you one way or another, I am simply discussing my thoughts on this movie. Because though the 2009 movie is still arguably the worst Astro Boy rendition so far– there is some good and charm within it that makes it worth a watch.

The Bad… and Arguably Confusing

One of the biggest complaints about the movie (and rightfully so) are what I’m calling “watered-down characters.” What sets them apart from previous versions is how their personas aren’t how they usually are. The biggest example of this has got to be the portrayal of Tenma. The 2003 series posies him to be the big baddie and overall fucked up dad that seems to be only looking out for himself and his motives, and no one else’s. He forces Astro to combat villains so that they can “evolve” and become “The King of All Robots.” Yet, in the 09 movie, he comes across as more of a science dad (who definitely listens to Nickelback in his spare time) who doesn’t really seem to know what he wants and seriously lacks depth. This isn’t to imply that being a baddie is remarkable, or that being just casual is bad. But the plot hinges on Tenma’s character, and thus he must be at least interesting.

Speaking of villains, many of them in this movie are also just shells of their archetypes and nothing more. President Stone, is obviously meant to be the corrupt, rich politician that wants nothing more than power and money. But the way he’s showcased makes him look like a little bitch boy with no spine. There’s supposed to be stakes at play regarding his “big scheme” to inflict war on the surface, but not even anyone outside his circle seems to take him seriously. He mentions this when talking to his right-hand man regarding how low he was doing in the polls, saying “… I’ve cut taxes for a lot of very influential friends. What more do the people want?” So, what’s the point of making him the villain if you aren’t going to commit to making the things he’s done actually mean something. Or, at the very least, they could’ve given us something to psychoanalyze and pick apart, à la 03 Tenma.

Astro’s characterization in the movie is also incongruent with how they are in past series. Typically, Astro is seen as a lovable kid who only wants to see the best in others, and exercise the least amount of physical force to combat the baddies that get in their way. In this movie, nonetheless, they seem to take more of a “sarcastic” approach (for lack of a better term). This isn’t to say they’re mean, but I’ve found it much harder for fans to look at them as the adorable “baby” (their words, not mine) to fawn over and make memes about.

The most interesting thing about Astro’s character in this movie is that they seem to have a chip over their shoulder the entire time for no real reason (at least not one that gets brought up). And they accept their fate of being deactivated rather quickly. I’m reminded a lot of an old head canon I’ve dubbed “Sasstro Tenma” who, like 09 Astro, has a bit of an attitude (hence the “Sass” part of “Sasstro”). Of course, this could be contributed to them being 13 instead of 9. But no matter how you slice it, they just aren’t as pleasant to watch, or be willing to root for.

Elefun is also British in this movie… for some reason. According to a Discord server I’m in– the voice actor for Elefun, Bill Nighy, is quite renowned for his voice. Now, while I’m assuming no one was talking about this movie when they made such a statement. I guess if he did want the role, then there was probably not a chance in hell that he was going to do anything but that voice for Elefun. What confuses me about this, howbeit, is that regardless– Elefun is Japanese.

Yet, this doesn’t imply that the movie is a total pan in this area. It does seem by the looks of it that they tried as best they could, and they did have a clear vision on what was intended. Unfortunately, it still falls short nonetheless. What they wanted the movie to come out like and be shown, is very much not how it ended up. I mean, the movie went through numerous directors before finally ended up in the hands of David Bowers. Saying that his intention with joining the film was simply to try his best to see it to the end and finish it. Obviously, with a mentality like that, you can’t expect for it to do an impressive job at achieving its goals, especially in the characterization department.

Stone turning down the blue core at the beginning of the movie, only to desperately want it midway through, is also just one of the ways this movie can’t seem to get it right. In addition, there are minor details, like how the first question Toby gets in his pop quiz is as follows:

These broader theories may be formulated using principles such as parsimony (e.g., “Occam’s Razor”). They are then repeatedly tested by analyzing how the collected evidence (facts) compares to the theory?

When a theory survives a sufficiently large number of empirical observations, it then becomes a scientific generalization that can be taken as fully verified?

They should’ve honestly just used Lorem Ipsum.

We could take this even further, and question why he even did a physics quiz after a history lesson in the first place! Is Mustachio Astro’s teacher for all subjects????  We don’t know for sure the location for  where Metro City is to figure out how perhaps their school system works. It’s only stated as being a “floating [city] in the sky” and that it used to be Mount Sofia. Other (minor) fun facts include: “The Surface” being the nickname given to Earth. And Metro City also getting nicknamed, “The Jewel In The Crown” (what crown in particular, remains unsolved).

There are other ways anyhow that this movie is bad. Quite possibly the biggest reason among fans (myself included) is the painfully bad writing. Yet, there are some gems here and there, it mostly comes down to it seeming a bit… off.

Take the RRF for example, a rag-tag team of robots who “supposedly” are fighting for robot liberation, but don’t seem to follow through? I understand that this is a kid’s movie, yes. But if you’re going to go through the effort of having them call everyone around them a comrade. Put up Trotsky AND Lenin posters in their hideout (whether this means the RRF are tankies is a discussion for another time). Then, at the very least, don’t write them off as law-abiding robots. That’s just leftism 101, dude. No genuine leftist gives a shit about whether they’ve “gotten permission” beforehand or kept keenly aware of the legality aspect in regard to acting against something.

We also can’t forget about the role Stone plays in the film. His main motivation seems to be wanting to wage war against the surface, which is fine enough, I suppose. But the issue here is that because he is so uninteresting and honestly a giant laughingstock, it’s hard to take the shit he’s doing seriously. Although, I think we must find what he’s doing to be legit because there’s a teachable moment at play here.

Many have theorized that this movie has undertones of anti-government and anti-capitalist sentiments– but as a leftist, I can’t really say I agree. Because this movie could very well make true leftist-aligning arguments if it wanted to. Particularly, that the State, and all the businesses that rule the world and corrupt the State, are (for the most part) wholly responsible for the disenfranchisement of its people. I mean, they went as far as to say at the beginning of the movie that the people of Metro City are, in fact, wealthy, and basically look down at the poor (potentially working class) people on the surface. But why could they never commit? Why are all that I and others left with is just that Stone is a bumbling fool?

Then, of course, we have the ending. An alien invasion that quite honestly didn’t need to happen. Especially when you consider that this movie never got a sequel. I guess you could potentially argue they wanted something impactful to leave with, but they already had all the characters go through a heart-to-heart moment with each other. If the power of love isn’t impactful enough to end a movie on, then consider me a loveless prick.

“But Sage!!” You might argue. “This is just a kids film, it doesn’t need to be serious! Why are you taking it so seriously???” And you’re right, it doesn’t. But non-seriousness isn’t a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, so your movie can get a good rating, it still has to be good. Because seriousness ≠ good writing. You can have movies that are written phenomenally and are a total blast to watch, but maybe are devoid of any thought-provoking meaning. Or, you could have a movie with writing so bad it’s good. This movie, withal, is just stuck in the middle. It wants to be better, It tries to be better at many points. But ultimately, it succumbs to what I believe to be its biggest flaw, and what summarizes pretty much everything mentioned: a lack of care.

Where It Redeems Itself

Originally, if you had asked me when I was around 12-13 if this next point I’m about to make was good or not, I’d assume my answer would’ve been that it’s not good. But honestly, this (in my opinion) is how the 09 movie has surprisingly aged well in my eyes. I’m talking about the romance (or lack thereof) in this film. Personally, I don’t like seeing romance in any Astro Boy series or movies ever. It just makes me a bit uncomfortable when you remember that in no rendition is Astro ever at least 16. This is not a suggestion that kids don’t go through crushes, or that perhaps I’m being a prude. But I just feel like it’s not something I want to see canonically. You can save the romance for your fanfics (hopefully, assuming they’re post canon) or theorize who they might end up with if Astro Boy got the All Grown Up treatment (If you don’t know what that show is… I am way too old).

Like I mentioned, this isn’t a stance I held at the time when I originally saw (and rewatched a couple of times) the movie when I was younger. It is, anyhow, a considerable breath of fresh air. It’s pretty progressive on this movie’s part to not have Astro and Cora get together at some point. Yes, they do hang out together, and some may argue that that alone means the movie was at least trying to hint at them being romantically involved. But, might I remind you that this is a children’s CGI animated “indie” film from 2009? Budding romance between A male protagonist and anyone vaguely female with a pulse was pretty much the standard, and they would never shy away from it, either. Not necessarily in the same time frame, but I’m reminded of my watch-through of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, where  it built up the big kiss at the end from the start– and I anticipated it! And felt vindicated when it happened! In the 09 movie, per contra, no such scene occurs, with only Astro and Cora having a friendly talk with one another. I honestly find that to be much more entertaining than any romance they could’ve possibly forced.

Another (completely self-centered) reason I enjoy this movie, has got to be one of the “strangest” things ever, and that’s its use of blobitecture. Blobitecture, for the unaware, is a style of architecture that emphasizes roundness and organic forms. There’s no sharp or straight edges to be found there. And Metro City (as shown in the film) is just oozing with blobitecture everywhere. I think what I like about it so much, is how it gives the city a clearly futuristic and sci-fi appeal. Which would explain why blobitecture being a staple of the Y2K aesthetic is a no-brainer. Speaking of Y2K, can we talk about the color palette??? So many blues and lilacs, I could die (not literally, thank god). And its use of holograms, particularly when Tenma calls Elefun, is so, so Y2K. It’s probably one of the funnest things about this movie.

The character designs, however… well… they suck. Big time.

It’s such a let-down, honestly. Like if you have the means to make say, Tenma’s house, look cool as fuck with it’s mid-century inspired furniture, but can’t be bothered to actually make TENMA look good– what’s the point???? Like, why does Tenma have a wonderful couch that I so desperately want, but his eyes look like he does Coke in his spare time to cope with the bullshit President Stone puts him through?

This doesn’t take away nevertheless from the fact that I still like the backgrounds and the overall aesthetic, especially during the introduction video we see in the beginning that very much gave me 70s meets The Jetsons. It just means that their decision to make the characters look as shitty as they did, that much more confusing, and downright disappointing.

It’s Obviously Not The Crème De La Crème of Astro Boy Renditions… And That’s Okay

I’m sure just by reading that headline, some of you are already thinking to yourselves, “But just how so?“ Or “why?” And I’m here to explain.

For starters, there’s a plethora of additions and tweaks this movie has done regarding the “typical” Astro Boy plot-line. This bills the movie as more of a standalone project than something meant to be included in the “Astro Boy Canon” (or the “ABCU” (Astro Boy Cinematic Universe), if you will). Examples of this include an OC count that certainly rivals the amount of OCs I had in my fan fiction series, Vivid Insomnia. And, the (obviously) different plot.

But I hear you: “If it bears the Astro Boy name, then it must be considered a part of the universe!” The issue with this take, is that it implies there’s only (1) way to re-tell a story, allowing no depictions to take the story in a (completely, or only minor) different direction. Now, whether the changes they make are good or not, is a separate discussion I already went through earlier. Even if I (and many others) think the changes made were bad, that doesn’t mean they weren’t allowed to make them. So if they’re allowed to make changes, we as fans can, similarly, interpret those changes as meaning what we’re watching is something of a freestanding creation. No person who worked on the film has ever come forward and admitted that the movie is canon, so it’s fair game to assume it’s not.

Another reason that sets it apart, are the little things it includes that I, personally, find to scratch itches I’ve been begging to have scratched for ages. Particularly, Tenma taking Astro back and owning up to his faults. Both as a father and regarding his initial rejection of Astro, under the basis that they were simply a “replacement” of Toby, instead of their own entity that he was entitled to support and care for. So many renderings portray Tenma as a deadbeat, or as a villain, but this one takes the cake for having the best (morally speaking) Tenma you can find. Sure, maybe he shouldn’t have rejected Astro in the first place, or maybe he should’ve quit his boot licking ways and made a bigger effort to be part of Toby’s life. But, so long as he tries now to right his wrongs and do better, then all is good in my book.

Secondly, Elefun telling Astro that none of their circumstances are their fault or of their volition. When I tell you I immediately jumped for joy upon him telling Astro this, I’m not joking. Rendition after rendition, we see Astro go through the most heinous of things, and no one seems to ever think to console them. I want Astro to know that what’s happened is out of their control. That there was nothing they could do to make Tenma be a better father, to make Stone get off their ass for good, to have perhaps saved Toby’s life. Radical acceptance.

Of course, still, detractors of all kinds will probably say that such things make the movie boring! Tenma being the complex villain that consistently treats Astro like shit with no recourse (like in the 03 series). And, Elefun taking Astro under his wing and subjecting them to a life-long mission of being the neoliberal middle man to the high stakes clashing between humans and robots is what we’re after– nothing less! And I hear you, but even if it may be “boring,” that doesn’t mean it’s not well-needed. No matter what you think, Astro deserves to be treated well and told the truth about their circumstances. This, again, goes back to what I said earlier about this movie being a separate thing. If we are to believe and accept that it is, in fact, a standalone project, then there’s nothing standing in their way of attempting to right the wrongs that are consistent throughout all prior versions. They have all the right to make Tenma and Elefun out to be better at handling the tough emotional situations they go through. Also, Astro is 13.

Conclusion

Again, this was not me trying to sway you one way or another. The 2009 movie is still obviously polarizing, and I don’t think it’ll ever stop being that way any time soon. If I did another round of surveying, I wouldn’t expect any other statistic than one that says that 3 out of 5 Astro Boy fans hate the 2009 movie. And rightfully so! It’s got characters that are basically a shell of either who they are in past adaptations, or of the stereotypes they’re meant to emulate, and poor writing galore. But I think the way in which it subverted the “forced hetero romance” stereotype that plagues many movies of this caliber is well appreciated. And we cannot forget the background and set design, oozing with blobitecture inspiration; as well as what gave us Tenma’s amazing couch. If I had to rate this movie, Anthony Fantano style, I would say it’s a light to decent 6 out of 10. The things that make this movie different (justifying the score) are arguably why most (myself included) choose to see this as a standalone thing. It may not be the behemoth that is the 2003 series, but it doesn’t have to be. It has all the charm and good it needs to, at the very least, convince people to watch it just once.