Movie review: “Astro Boy”

The animated "Astro Boy" is a shiny hodgepodge of "Pinocchio," "WALL-E," "Oliver Twist," "Gladiator" and "Superman," with some obvious visual touches taken from "The Iron Giant."

As its own entity, though, it's pretty forgettable.

Director David Bowers ("Flushed Away"), who co-wrote the script with Timothy Hyde Harris ("Kindergarten Cop," "Space Jam"), gets some help from a lively voice cast that includes Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy and Nathan Lane, and the Art Deco look of the film's architecture has a classic appeal.

But it almost feels as if there are too many movies competing in what is essentially a standard tale of good versus evil.

The jokes aren't all that funny, and the father-son relationship between Astro Boy (Highmore) and brilliant scientist Dr. Tenma (a typically lethargic and curiously cast Nicolas Cage) isn't all that moving. There's a lot going on, but none of it grabs you.

Based on the Japanese comic book from Osamu Tezuka that began in 1951 -- and influenced the anime genre as we know it today -- "Astro Boy" traces the origin of a young superhero.

Toby began life as a regular kid but died in a freak lab accident. His father brings him back to life as a robot containing Toby's personality, memories and Bob's Big Boy looks (as well as some tricky gadgets and powers that are never explained).

Once Dr. Tenma realizes that this eager-to-please robot version of his child is nonetheless inferior, he sends him away. Toby flees the floating, gleaming Metro City and lands on the now-trashed Earth below, where he becomes known as Astro Boy.

He meets other orphaned children who grubbily root around for spare robot parts to bring to their Fagin-like father figure, Hamegg (Lane).

Astro wants to fit in with the others, namely the street-smart Cora (Bell) and forge some sort of normal life. But high among the clouds in Metro City, President Stone (Donald Sutherland) is after him for his Blue Core: a powerful crystalline nugget that Dr. Tenma implanted in his chest.

You see, there's a Blue Core and a Red Core. The blue one provides a peaceful, benevolent strength; the red one turns you into a ferocious killing machine.

The president wants to control them both for his ironically named "Peacekeeper," a burly device intended to dominate Earth.

And so the obvious inevitably arrives: Astro Boy must return home to fight the ultimate fight and face his ultimate destiny. He also might run into his dad again. You never know.