Astro Boy

Astro Boy is a 2009 animated superhero film loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. Produced by the Hong Kong-based company Imagi Animation Studios, it was directed by David Bowers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Hyde Harris. The film stars Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Samuel L. Jackson, Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron, and Nicolas Cage. In the film, Dr. Tenma (Cage) creates Astro (Highmore), a teenage robot implanted with Toby's memories after the death of Tenma's son. The pair face Stone (Sutherland), the president of Metro City who is running for re-election, for their betrayal. The film was first released in Hong Kong on October 8, 2009, and in the United States on October 23, 2009. It received generally mixed reviews from film critics, but was a financial failure, earning worldwide against its budget. As a result of the film's poor performance, Imagi was shut down on February 5, 2010, and as a result, it became the final film produced by the studio. Plot In the 22nd century, Toby Tenma is a teenager who lives in the futuristic city-state of Metro City, which floats above the polluted surface on Earth. His father, Dr. Tenma, works at the Ministry of Science, alongside Dr. Elefun. They create the Peacekeeper, an advanced defensive robot fueled by using two powerful energy spheres with opposing properties, respectively in colors blue and red from a star fragment discovered by Dr. Elefun. The two scientists brief the President of Metro City, Stone, who is running for re-election. Against the scientists' warnings, Stone loads the negative red core and Peacekeeper becomes hostile immediately. Toby is accidentally killed by the Peacekeeper, as it attempts to violently leave the research facility before Dr. Elefun disables it.