Source: amazon.com
10. Astro Boy (2009)
Well this was a disappointment.
I decided recently to augment the rules I use for what qualifies for this list. The new system is essentially that I will include all adaptations of English language comics and all English language adaptations of foreign comics. So get pumped, all you Valerian fans! 2009's Astro Boy is an adaptation of the Manga that started it all, Osamu Tezuka's seminal work Mighty Atom:, adapted into America as Astro Boy. The series is about a robot boy, built in the image of his inventor's deceased son to fight for justice and robotkind. And this movie commits to that premise. Even going along with the onscreen child death which I was pretty surprised by. The cast is the real draw, with Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Nathan Lane, Kristin Bell, and a weird array of other greats all popping up. Freddie Highmore stars, although he sounds just a tad too old for the part. It's a silly children's movie that does have a few good jokes but is otherwise unmemorable.
How Does it Compare to the Comic?: well, I've never actually read any Mighty Atom, but I have read all of Urasawa's Pluto, which is one of the greatest comics works of the 21st century. It's flawless and perfect and this movie is nowhere near close to being a fraction as good. Pluto is a grim and gritty remake of Astro Boy done as a murder mystery about what it truly means to be human, this movie has a machine gun butt.
…2 out of 5 stars.
And that's where we'll call it this time. As always, you can find my ranked list of how these movies compare to each other HERE ON LETTERBOXD. Current Best Comic Book Movie Ever: American Splendor. Current Worst Comic Book Movie Ever: AVP Requiem. Next time, we're going to cover some Avengers movies, and finally finish out the A's.
