'Astro Boy' takes on too much

For an animated kid's movie "Astro Boy" sure is deep. The story of the pointy-headed, short pants-wearing boy robot takes on tolerance, environmentalism, love and corruption. Of course, in truth, the movie is another one of those kid's movies that really isn't for kids, at least not young ones. Still, even this grown-up, while appreciating the film's scope and aesthetic, found "Astro Boy" a little tedious.

The story takes place in Metro City, which floats above an abandoned Earth. Metro City's humans are served by robots created by Dr. Tenma (voiced by Nicolas Cage); Earth is a dumping ground for old robots.

Tenma has a son whose genius he nurtures. Unfortunately, that's all Tenma nurtures; robots show more softness than the doctor.

One tragic day, the boy's curiosity gets him killed when he's accidentally locked in a room where Dr Tenma's and Dr. Elefun's (Bill Nighy) experiments (a good blue power source and a bad red power source) are being corrupted by the sinister president of Metro City (Donald Sutherland).

Distraught and guilt-ridden, Tenma uses a strand of his son's hair and the blue power source to re-create the boy as a robot. The robot (Freddie Highmore) looks like his son, even has his memories. But Tenma soon comes to believe his act was foolish. He rejects the robot, casting him out and setting him on his journey to become a robot hero.

Astro ends up on the abandoned planet where he befriends other outcasts he thinks are human and gains a father figure in Hamegg (Nathan Lane); the evil president, consumed with being re-elected, wants to hunt down Astro.

Although the violence isn't explicit, there are scenes where the villains are trying to kill Astro Boy (and they go all out), and the son does die at the beginning. Even with scenes of levity, "Astro Boy" can be kind of dark. And, too, because it's a bit talky and complex, I wouldn't recommend it for younger kids.

Even in two dimensions the manga-style Metro City was nicely rendered. It had a cool retro feel, the future as imagined in the 1950s. "Astro Boy" has a lot on its mind and, in the end, is successful in sharing its thoughts. But a little editing would have helped.