Aug 11 2009'Astro Boy' Trailer: What a Great or Despicable Character
Sometimes you can gauge how great a movie character is by how much you wish you could somehow actually be them. Characters like Indiana Jones and Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters were some of my favorites as a kid--men who, despite their obvious flaws, I always wished I could somehow become--and they've remained favorites of mine today.
Watching this trailer Astro Boy, I was surprised to find some of those same feelings of wishing I could be a character popping up when I'd see the eponymous android zipping through the sky. Only, now they were different. Now that I'm getting older, starting to fear aging, my wish comes not out of respect or admiration for the character but out of jealousy that this little asshole is perpetually youthful and super powerful. Because fuck you, Astro Boy. Who are you to be so awesome? In fact, my second wish, if I can't be him, would be to destroy him, so that I wouldn't ever have to see him flying around being awesome and young until the day I die.
So I guess maybe he's not so much a great character as an enviable character who needs to either be destroyed or become me somehow.
I don't know where I was going with that, so anyway, here's the trailer:
God, he has all these friends too. Of course he does.
Reader Comments
1. Stinky - August 11, 2009 4:35 PM
His older brother Big went into the hamburger restaurant business...
2. Yep - August 11, 2009 4:53 PM
It could have been worse.......
It could have been a lot worse.......
3. Hal - August 11, 2009 4:56 PM
Heath Ledger looks AWESOME in this!
4. bg - August 11, 2009 5:32 PM
Ok so your saying you want it in the butt?
5. Thrasher - August 11, 2009 5:32 PM
His younger brother Small went into the bobble head business...
6. Pekod - August 11, 2009 6:42 PM
I wish Dr Tenma/Dr Horse, or whatever he's called, was more grim, like the original. Happy sappy characters are lame, as are females who come rescue you.
7. Jibber Jabber - August 11, 2009 10:23 PM
This looked promising until that floating tentacled eye made an appearance.
The villain, the guy who wants him for his army, sounds so happy. He does not sound determined, serious or villainous. I would have replaced that voice actor in a heartbeat!
8. Jazz - August 11, 2009 10:32 PM
I'm probably going to be the only one who loves this because of how happy it is. It'll sit well with my A.D.D.
9. Bonkbonkbonk - August 12, 2009 4:38 AM
Wow. That entry was actually pretty philosophical.
10. Pat - August 12, 2009 8:54 AM
@1 LOL!
11. Ptentacle - August 12, 2009 9:09 AM
Has a lot of friends who care about him and aren't completely self centered and only eventually want something from him in the end, huh? This movie IS a fantasy. Then again, hanging out with a kick-ass robot dude would still probably get them laid. So maybe he's not so different....maybe he's not.
12. Chris - August 12, 2009 9:38 AM
I think you pretty much just summed up Lex Luthor's motivation.
13. Johnny Lava - August 12, 2009 11:21 AM
why can't we get a mega man x movie? that would be hawt.
14. Glenn Fernandes - August 13, 2009 7:26 AM
Thanks for the interesting post. Astro Boy Movie seems to be good. People are waiting to watch this film on the big screen. Freddie Highmore seems to have done a good job. The story is very interesting. Kids as well as adults will like this movie.
15. Pedro(Not Really) - August 14, 2009 6:29 AM
Did anyone notice that NONE OF THIS SHIT EVER HAPPENED IN THE ORIGINAL SERIES!?! Oh, wtf happened to the guy that originally made Astro being all evil and crap?
16. Vitero - August 15, 2009 5:33 PM
That looks awesome, actually. When I heard the rights to Astro Boy were taken, I feared it would become another shitty live-action translation. Y'know, like Avatar or (cringe) Dragonball. And, fortunately for me, I never saw the originals, so I can't nerd-rage over inconsistencies.
17. Vitero - August 15, 2009 5:36 PM
I had those same feelings of "I wanna be that robot kid!" when I played Megaman, but ya know what? That never wore off
18. Claudiox - August 19, 2009 5:22 PM
so.. this is how a Vilian would think about a person like say.. Astroboy or superman or any other hero.
if you cant have the power then you should destroy him..
if you look at Lex Luthor and what role he plays in the SUperman comic Mythos you will find that this is exactly what he would say or do.. same thing with the animation film : "the invincibles" by Pixar.. they hit it spot on with the boy - starting out as a fan and ending up as the super villain
so im just saying - you have the makings of a fine super villain. :)