Set in futuristic Metro City, a small city that floats on top of Earth, Toby Tenma (Freddie Highmore) is an 11-year-old boy genius whose father is the Head of Ministry of Science. Toby sneaks into the demonstration room when his father and other scientist are experimenting with the two cores of energy, a “positive” (good) blue core and a “negative” (evil) red core and he ends up evaporated by a robot called “The Peacekeeper” which is powered by red core.
Devastated by the lost of his son, Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) works day and night to create a robot that reassembles his son and has all of Toby’s memory by using the hair strand of his son left on the cap. He powers him up with the blue core and is excited to spend time with his son, he soon realizes it isn’t the same and the new Toby reminds him that his son is gone.
By accident, Toby learns that he is actually a robot and can fly but President Stone also discovers Toby’s blue core energy and tries to capture him. He ends up on the surface of Earth and finds a group of kids led by a caretaker named Hamegg as well as some robot friends to learn the purpose and true meaning of life only to be forced to fight ala Roman style with other robots in a stadium with robots after Hamegg reveals Astro as a robot. Astro forcefully wipe out all the robots but refuses to fight Zog, a giant construction robot which he revives using his blue core energy. The military then arrives and captures Astro.
Back in the lab which Astro is created, Dr. Tenma takes out the blue core and apologizes to Astro but Astro apologizes for not able to be a better son. Dr. Tenma’s conscience comes to mind when he almost gives the blue core to President Stone. Instead, he puts it back in Astro and tells him to escape. Stone uses the red stone to activate The Peacekeeper but is absorbed into it. The Peacekeeper then goes on rampage, destroying everything in its path in order to get Astro. In the end, Astro sacrifices himself to stop the Peacekeeper and dies since the blue core was drained from the explosion.
Zog then arrives and revives Astro with some of the blue core energy Astro gave him previously.
Overall, Astro Boy is a brilliant animated film with great morale value. The film is suitable for kids and adult alike and is a great way to introduce the original Japanese manga to everyone. Astro Boy may be a robot, but he certainly has a great heart, or more like a “positive” core. So, is the movie.
How to Train Your Dragon is an animated film about a comedy adventure set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons. Starring the voice of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, How to Train Your Dragon opens on March 26, 2010.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is computer-animated film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The movie is loosely based on the children’s book of the same name. The film is also released in 3D in selected cinemas.
The film revolves around Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) who loves to invent things. His first invention, Spray-on Shoes confined his feet for life. While his mother encourages him despite his failure, his dad just wants him to work in his fishing shop. His mom passed away later on, leaving his dad to take care of him in a small town called Swallow Falls.
Flint eventually creates a device called ‘FLDSMDFR’ (Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator), which turns water into food but the machine doesn’t have enough electricity. He and his pet monkey Steve (Neil Patrick Harris) who communicates through a translator device try to power up the machine using the power station but he causes havoc around the town including destroying a new theme park called Sardin Land. When Flint bumps into Sam Sparks (Anna Faris), a weather intern who is there to cover the event, the sky starts to rain cheeseburger. Before long, the town is filled with cheeseburger.
Flint later on, can create rain for any food the townsfolk want, including ice cream for the town’s cop, Earl’s, (Mr. T) son’s birthday and giant Jell-O mold for Sam. Greediness turns the town’s mayor into rain giant-sized food and causes the world in total chaos.
Although the movie is entertaining albeit the crazy jokes, the 3D version does little wonder with limited scenes especially in the second half of the film.
Overall, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 3D is funny but it’s rather disappointing if you are an adult. It’s mostly cloudy and not sunny side up.
Planet 51 is an animated film about astronaut Chuck Baker (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who landed on Planet 51 only to be labelled “alien” by the inhabitants of Planet 51. Befriended by a young resident, he has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and try to return home. Starring the voice of Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel, Planet 51 opens on November 20, 2009.
Up is an animated comedy adventure film by Pixar Animation about a cranky old man and his adventure to South America with a boy scout. The film was released on May 29, 2009 in USA and is scheduled for release on October 9, 2009 in the UK.
Like most Pixar movies, the movie starts with a short film — in this instance, Partly Cloudy is the name of the short film. The movie Up begins with Carl Fredricksen as an 8-year-old boy who is timid despite his love for famed explorer named Charles Muntz. When he meets an eccentric girl named Ellie who shares the same interests as him, Ellie welcomes Carl to her club and gives him a badge which happens to be a soda cap. Ellie expresses her desire to move her clubhouse to Paradise Falls in South America and she makes Carl to promise her that.
As they grow older, Ellie and Carl get married and work as a zookeeper and a toy balloon vendor respectively. Not able to have children, Ellie and Carl save up for a trip to Paradise Falls but due to other financial obligations, their savings keep fading. When Ellie passes away due to old age, Carl becomes bitter. Carl is forced to move as the city has grown around his house but he refuses and when he accidentally hits a construction worker, the court orders Carl to move into a retirement home. Carl comes up with a scheme of his own as he attaches 10,000 helium balloons to his house to lift it up. Up above in the sky, when Carl tries to sit down on his armchair, he finds Russell, a Wilderness Explorer knocking at his door. Russell is trying to earn his final merit badge for “Assisting the Elderly” and has been hiding in his porch after Carl sends him for a snipe hunt on the previous day.
And so it begins, the adventure of a lifetime. Carl and Russell meets many colorful characters including a giant bird which Russell names Kevin and Dug, a dog whom can speak with a translating collar. They finally meet a 92-year-old Charles Muntz who stays in South America to find a giant bird to clear his reputation after being called fraud. The giant bird Charles is looking for happens to be Kevin, Russell’s newfound pet. When Carl realizes Charles will hunt down anyone relentless just to capture the bird, they escape from Charles airship.
Like most of Pixar Animation movies, Up is funny and touching. The film builds around a strong and never-give-up will of Ellie which later on transfers to Carl and from there, Carl turns out to be heroic when he saves Russell and the giant bird while granting Ellie her wish. It turns out Ellie has furnished her Adventure Book with photographs of her and Carl together since their wedding days with a message on the last page telling Carl to have a new adventure of his own.
Overall, Up is a yet another brilliant and adventurous animated film from Pixar. I’m sure it touches many hearts and will touch many more.
Fantastic Mr. Fox is an animated film by director Wes Anderson based on the book by Roald Dahl. Featuring the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Fantastic Mr. Fox opens on November 13, 2009.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel is the sequel to 2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks. Starring Jason Lee, David Cross and the voice of Justin Long, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel opens on Christimas day, 2009.
Despicable Me is an animated film about a trio of orphan girls causing the normally deplorable Groo to rethink his plan to steal the moon. Starring the voice of Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, Jason Segel. Despicable Me opens on July 9, 2010.
