Astro Boy (B+)

(PG for mild profanity, some perilous action):  What a delightful film for both children and adults, another animation that rises head & shoulders above the dismal live  fare.  Summit Entertainment matches successes with DreamWorks' MONSTERS & ALIENS, Pixar's UP & others of their remarkable ilk.  One reason: they must adhere to scripted dialog, while the other films permit plenty of improv - and you know thef-in' sh-tty limitations that f-in' arise there, like, um, f- y'know?

Based on Osamu Tezuka's 1951 manga (Japanese comic book) series -  from which grew a TV cartoon series about a lovable robot crusader boy; it ran for years in black/white, then color, seen in over 40 countries, capturing hearts & memories ever since.

Director David Bowers, who co-scripted with Timothy Harris, has created a more Americanized verson while retaining the animé look (by having the drawings originated at the Hong Kong company Imagi Studios). 

The plot is simple:  a brilliant scientist, Dr. Tenma (voice of Nicolas Cage) lives in a tiny city-island, floating above the now wasted Earth.  Metro City is a utopia, thanks to the doctor's untiring efforts, which include cleverly creating robots that do all the work (and when no longer usable are dumped onto a pile of rust & plastic on the Earth wasteland below). 

There must be a conflict in films like this, of course, and there is, in the personage of a greedy, selfish mayor (Donald Sutherland) who makes unjust demands on Dr. Tenma to keep him in power.  The doctor refuses, and when his son Toby (Freddy Highmore) is suddenly killed, he fashions a near exact robot with a Blue Core heart - the last available - to bring him "alive" again - but now vested with remarkable powers:  the ability to fly, to see with x-ray vision, to shoot bullets from his rear, etc.  From then on it's a wild run, reminiscent of films dealing with Wall-e, Frankenstein, Superman, Pinocchio, even Christ, and others, during which we get to love the little robot & his friends while hating their nemesis.

Of course, there's the ubiquitous major battle at the end, with - well, you can imagine the outcome - mayor & his monsters destroyed, doctor learns to love his robot son, utopia returns.  Nice & sweet, but not cloyingly so.

As with all the other animated films, an incredible cast has been assembled to speak for the dozens of characters; they include Eugene Levy, Nathan Lane, Madeline Carroll & Charlize Theron.  As with voices for other such films, they're not always identifiable, but no matter; they perform with obvious glee and we get to enjoy the results.

There are a few misses, mainly in attempts at humor; yet in all, a gentle charm takes over; Bowers knows how to do it without overloading with traditional kiddy badinage.  It's 94-minutes of great make-believe &, albeit familiar, unabashed feel-good pleasure.  (Grade: B+)