Review for Astro Boy

Astro Boy is a computer animated feature length film, based on the original Manga comic and cartoon show. It's personally not a show I was ever aware of, but watching the extra features, it seems that it was a phenomenon in America.
In Metro City, which is essentially a floating ark metropolis removed from the Earth, Toby Tenma is just a normal boy, unfortunately his father is workaholic genius scientist Dr Bill Tenna (Played wonderfully by Nicholas Cage) who is too busy with his work to notice Toby and only sees him via holographic messaging. During a lab accident Toby is killed and his father decides to create a robot that looks exactly like him, only with a few new modifications making him Astro Boy. This doesn't all go to plan and Astro Boy soon finds himself on the Earth's surface, which has become almost a Mad Max-like wilderness where he encounters Cora (Kristen Bell) a surface dweller who is a member of a group of almost Oliver-like urchins lead by Hamegg (Nathan Lane). Astro Boy also encounters the RRF Robot Revolutionary Front which is possibly the highlight of the film made even more entertaining by the voice performances of Matt Lucas and Bill Nighy. Soon Astro Boy must use his ever increasing array of powers including the fact he can 'shoot bullets out of my butt?' to help save not only Metro City but also the Earth too.
Inside the Recording Studio is an interesting look at the cast of voices behind the film. Getting the Astro Boy look is a short feature of kids getting made up to look like Astro Boy, which looks quite fun. Astro Boy Image Gallery is more a look at the evolution of the character from the manga comic and cartoon to the designs. This is a nice feature, but would have been nicer with a commentary to explain why certain decisions with design were made. Building Metro City is a look at all the sets from the film and how they were designed and created. This was a nice idea, but really should have been included in a larger documentary as this felt a bit too dense in information. Designing a Hero is a step by step guide to drawing the character. This might have been better as interactive feature as though interesting to budding artists, it was a little dull. It then oddly changes into a random look at the film creation as a whole. Two short cartoons which feel a bit more like deleted scenes, but still nice.
Astroboy is a great film, filled with some wonderful moments. Though I wouldn't exactly say it's on the same level of Pixar or Dreamworks, it is certainly a film that will be enjoyed by the whole family.