| Original Score: C- | Feb 14, 2012

Like its supersonic, jets-in-his-feet hero, the movie itself feels totally robotic.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 6, 2010

Bowers's play-it-straight attitude towards the material combined with the crisp, if unspectacular, animation doesn't allow 'Astro Boy' a moment to bob its head above the ever-swelling digimation pack.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2010

What makes this peppy kids' film interesting is the human/robot apartheid system that has evolved in the futuristic world that Astro inhabits.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 5, 2010

It is a bold and even poignant idea and the movie certainly zips along. It's not in the Wall-E league, but it's well made and inventive.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 5, 2010

Sci-fi digimation, whirling round the screen like the furniture in a drunkard's bedroom, whisks up the characters in its tornado.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 5, 2010

It's hardly groundbreaking, and some of the voicework is bland, but it doesn't drag.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2010

The sci-fi cityscapes are gleaming, the action energetic and entertaining.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 5, 2010

David Bowers's film looks good and tries for a bit of adult interest by suggesting there might be another way other than arrant capitalism. It's not much less sophisticated than Avatar but hasn't the eye-catching novelty.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2010

Astro Boy is no awards contender.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2010

Aside from a few neat flourishes, this is attention-sapping stuff, lacking texture in both its visuals and vocal performances.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2010

David Bowers' stunning CG landscapes... resonate with a chaotic bunch of half-realised ideas left floating in mid-air like Metro City itself. Yet for all the deficit of grounded substance... there is never a dull moment.

Full Review | Feb 4, 2010

This is a movie that goes nowhere and offers up little in the way of originality, and while the majority of it is technically well presented the boredom I felt while watching it was almost enough to put me to sleep.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 6, 2009

I just felt like this was a mistranslation -- almost trying to combine the slightly sinister, cold world of Japanese anime with the warm, sentimental, fuzzy, bouncy world of Hollywood kid animation.

Full Review | Oct 26, 2009

David Bowers' retro-cool update on the titular icon looks so great, it may take a while to notice it's a clunky political parable wrapped in a tonally confused fairy tale.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 23, 2009

There's very little that the filmmakers haven't borrowed here, making Astro Boy feel as copied as its title character.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 23, 2009

Awesome. Truly.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2009

One of the most pleasant surprises I've had at the movies all year.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 23, 2009

Astro Boy definitely sets himself up for a sequel, and the overall scenario is ripe to explore many current issues. But let's hope the creators trade in the well-used parts for some fresh material.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 23, 2009

Astro Boy is a blast, a jolt of Japanese anime channeled through British slap-shtick that ends up yet another cool cartoon for both kids and adults.

| Original Score: B | Oct 23, 2009