Despite getting support from actors like Tobey Maguire, Hollywood’s Robotech adaptation has languished for ages. It honestly seemed like it was dead — but, here we go again — Warner Bros’ Hollywood Gang is revving the engine again and producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton have nabbed the scriptwriter (Michael Gordon) behind 300 and G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra to begin writing it. We’ll see if it actually goes anywhere, this time. In similar news, Animal Logic Entertainment is attempting to start an Astro Boy film. Producer Zareh Nalbandian said, “We actually see him in the same league as an Iron Man.” Uh, hmm, okay. How about we just make a Pluto movie, instead? Read more…
This is the second trailer showing gameplay from the up and coming Astro Boy videogame. It’s funny how sometimes that the more you see of something, the more it just unsells you: And in his case the lack of quality of the game is not only unselling me from the game but from the film itself. Frankly everything associated with this film is starting to feel second rate to me. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 19, 2009 in Animation
This latest promotional Astro Boy clip is titled Escape Metro City, but it’s more like Escape Pixar City. The more I see of the upcoming Astro Boy flick the more I absolutely hate it. It’s bad enough having to watch every other film trying to poorly imitate Pixar, but then to see such a classic anime character get dragged into the mud is humiliating. This clip sums up while I won’t be standing in line: We’ve got A list actors doing C- voice acting, poorly timed animation that telegraphs its punches and a great deal of eye candy over substance.
Dr. Tezuka: He's smiling in this photo, but I don't think he would be pleased with this game.
I could be wrong: Astro Boy may just turn out the be the very best animated film of 2009. But sadly everything I’ve seen makes me think otherwise — and this teaser trailer for the videogame based on the film is the latest example. It just looks like they a sprite of Astro Boy and chucked him into some pre-existing generic 3D game engine. There no charm that one might associate with the cute boy robot of yore, just tons of things that seem to need to be beaten up for no reason at all. I’ll never guess why the estate of Tezuka didn’t insist on creative control, it’s as if the crown anime jewels of Japan have been turned into cheap throw away trinkets. Well with any luck this won’t kill the franchise for more than a decade or so…
From a fanboy point of view one of the coolest exhibitors at Toy Fair 2009 was the Attakus Collection booth which was packed with highly detailed collectables that take your breath away. The Star Wars Probe Droid above first caught my eye due to the huge scale (and loving detail), but they also had a an amazing collection of smaller scale figures based on everything from Marvel Comics to AstroBoy: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2008 in Animation
Why did the makers of the new CGI Astro Boy decide to “improve” upon Tezuka’s original design and outfit our hero in a preppie styled sweater and pants? The other thing that makes me sad about this first preview is that the rest of the characters make this look like every other CGI movie that’s ever been made. This won’t win over the old fanboys who might take the kids, it won’t win over the kids because it looks like everything else, and I can only guess how the Japanese will feel about this wardrobe upgrade. Read more…
