You know those three laws of robotics? Science fiction author Isaac Asimov famously created them to set up rules that all "conscious" robots in his stories had to obey:
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
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2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Asimov's laws have been altered, augmented and referenced in countless derivative works since he first published them in 1942, including the motion pictures "Forbidden Planet," "Bicentennial Man," "I, Robot" (based on his own stories) and "Astro Boy," the computer-animated film from Imagi Animation Studios ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles").
Because "Astro Boy" (based on a Japanese manga series) pretty thoroughly ignores the laws — one gigantic robot threatening to step on a human who references them in a plea for mercy explains away his violent actions with the phrase "I'm old-school" — allow me to add one of my own: Computer-animated movies should contain only robot characters.
The best computer animated films, even Pixar's, still don't have realistic human movement and expression down (although the humans in the upcoming "Toy Story 3" appear to come ridiculously close). But robots? Perfect. Their hard, chiseled surfaces take well to the polygons today's animators use in lieu of paintbrushes. Their simple, open-and-close mouth movements never pull a viewer out of the action the way those of "human" CGI characters do, and if their eyes are vacant and soul-less, so what? They're robots.
And the whirring, clicking machinery in "Astro Boy" is great fun to watch: whether goofy, cute and rusty (a trash-can bot that acts like a playful puppy) or gleaming, whirring, unstoppable killing machines, these creations bring the robot excitement in a way not seen since 1999's superior, 2-D "The Iron Giant" (and I'm including the loud, obnoxious "Transformers" movies and the splendid, more emotional "Wall-E," too). And then there's the titular character himself.
Grieving Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) created Astro, boy robot, after his son, Toby, was killed during the creation of a nasty bit of military weapons-grade machinery. Tenma makes Astro look identical to his son and implants the robot with all of Toby's memories and feelings. But rather than filling the void left by the loss of his son, Astro reminds Tenma of Toby's absence, which leads to resentment and, ultimately, rejection. It's painful to watch a father turn his son away, even if the boy is all circuits and wires, not flesh and blood.
This fascinating dynamic is wrapped in a standard-fare-but-well-enough-realized story about evil, power-hungry politicians, including a delightfully malevolent Donald Sutherland as President Stone. Parts of "Astro Boy" are very dark and could scare little ones. The rampaging, ironically named "Peacekeeper" robot is truly terrifying, and a turncoat named Hamegg (Nathan Lane) betrays the trust and love of a rag-tag group of orphans in a cruel and violent way.
The resolution comes too easily and expediently and, unlike the boy robot itself, the story never transcends the sum of its parts. Despite that, "Astro Boy" is a decently well-oiled machine.
