Are you sure you really want a sequel?

[Ghost]

I've been meaning to get into this for a while now. I know how there are fans of the movie, which is fine. To clear things up, I didn't really hate the movie that much. I loved Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy. I think he was one of the best voice actors for an English speaking Astro next to the 80s Canadian version.

I also thought Cora was an interesting character. There were small other things but those were the main things I liked. But because of the movies poor performance, a sequel is unlikely to happen. But the big question here in this discussion is whether or not that's a good thing. And of course I know some of you will automatically think that's a bad thing, just try to hear me out.

Hollywood has been putting out a lot of crappy movies lately. And of something original comes out and is good.... It's very rare for the sequel(s) to be on par with the original film. Think about it, how many sequels can you name that are better than the original? How many third movies have been good even? Not very many, but I can name a few.

One of the best sequels that topped the original was the Dark Knight. So was the Empire Strikes Back. There are others but those are the two I can name off the top of my head. But if you think about the movie well enough, you can definitely see that there are some flaws, but again, it could've been a lot worse.

Now, I understand that they left it open for a sequel. But do you really think that a sequel to the Astro Boy movie would be good? Do you think it would as good as the original film, or even better? I highly doubt that if a sequel was made, that it would be. I actually think that a sequel would be really bad. The closest thing to a sequel that we have are the "prequel" comics. Look at how good those were. They were crap! Can you really look at those comics and say that something like that needs to be brought to the big screen?

So I believe that not suffering through a terrible sequel, would be better overall. Leaving the film alone I think is the best option. If anything I would like to see a new anime series along with some new manga books. Wouldn't you rather have that instead? But I will admit, I would love to see Freddie Highmore return as the voice of Astro.

If any of you don't agree with me that's fine. But just think about it at least.

That's all.

[Novacain]

I personally think with that ending they set themselves up for a cheesy kids show.

A sequel would not work, IMO.

[F-Man]

Freddie Highmore was already too old by the time they made the film, I'm afraid to imagine taking him again now... Reminds me of Mathew Broderick voicing the child mouse in the recent Tale of Despereaux.

Considering how much bad was in the movie, and that it was an origin story where Astro hid his powers the entire time, I could only see the sequel going up. But what I'll never understand is people who hope for a direct-to-video cheapquel. NO STOP.

But really, the most important thing about Astro Boy movies is not really their quality, but that they'd revive the franchise.

[Satus]

Out of all the versions of Astro Boy I've seen, I don't dislike any of them. Although, not sure about stuff I haven't seen (like the black and white live action...).

I actually didn't know the 2009 movie had a "prequel" comic till today, I assumed it was just a graphic novel version of the exact movie with minor changes. I never exactly looked into it because I really didn't favour the art style either. But the movie itself I liked very much, and it compelled me to reintroducing myself to the series after I had forgotten about seeing the 2003 version years ago.

The movie I believe was very good, I really enjoyed the retelling. Although I didn't like how they changed how Tobio died. The indesctructable clothes were tolerable, but seeing his full iconic look a bit more would have been nice.

I do believe I would enjoy another movie if they made the sequel, the changes to characters and the addition of the new characters added more possibilities that could be explored while still using the original stories created by Tezuka. Plus, they would probably show Astro's more iconic look a lot more since they already got the origin story out of the way.

But I do agree about sequels usually not being as good as the previous, it's really difficult to find a sequel that can top its original. But there are good sequels for movies out there, even if they don't beat their original.

In the end, I also do think a sequel of the Astro Boy movie would most likely fail even worse than the original. Which is a shame (for me), but sometimes reality sucks. Especially if it's a sequel made to be a cash in instead of made from the heart.

[Androids101]

I personally think with that ending they set themselves up for a cheesy kids show.

I think that it is meant to demonstrate that Astro has taken up the job of defending the city, but who knows. It'll be a poor start to the second film.

[Alittleacorn]

Short answer, yes. If one would be any good however would entirely depended on who directed it. But like that'll ever happen with the box office bomb and Imagi in its unrecoverable coma.

So yeah, even if there'd been a sequel and it wasn't as good as the first film, I might forgive it anyway since I like the characters. Guess that's why I'm kind of sad because I'd of liked to of seen those guys again, even Nick Cage as Tenma with his 'I'm such a weak man I hide behind the filing cabnet at break to avoid telling poorly excuted jokes at the water cooler' and maybe the RRF a bit ..except President Stone, he can go rot in Lame Characterisationville! x_x

And that prequel comic was AWFUL, why was it even called a prequel? It was more like an alternate 'if we didn't kick you off Metro City and somehow we had an advance mutated radioactive blob and lizard civilisations living 1000's of feet under the ground below us, who also happened to send a giant rhino with a drill for a horn to kill us all, this is how your life would've turned out Astro! Have fuuuun!'

(facepalm) why, i nearly put that comic out of my heaaaad

[Gotta Love ASTRO BOY]

Well I really don't think Astro should have a sequel and here is my short and quick answer. Astro Boy the movie was bad enough and we all know movies only get worse in the sequels. To be perfectly honest, do we really need to put a worse name to Astro by making an awful sequel?

[jeffbert]

I think the very idea of a non-Japanese made MIGHTY ATOM movie itself is a bad idea, sequel or any other. At best, it is a 2nd rate imitation. Why would anyone think that an American version of any other popular Japanese story would be good? Why not an American Harlock, or Dragonball? We enjoy these because of what their creators put into them, would we like them otherwise?

[Bigdog]

I think the very idea of a non-Japanese made MIGHTY ATOM movie itself is a bad idea, sequel or any other. At best, it is a 2nd rate imitation. Why would anyone think that an American version of any other popular Japanese story would be good? Why not an American Harlock, or Dragonball? We enjoy these because of what their creators put into them, would we like them otherwise?

I have a few ideas in my head that would not only take Astro Boy into the modern century, but be faithful to Tezuka's overarching theme of reincarnation as well as get more into the dynamics and do some more world-building into what has made their Earth the way it is ,the politics, and of course the culture of the nations and how culture would play a role in how robots are conceived.

All in all, it would deal with how it's not only a Japanese story, but an international one that involves global characters instead of restricted to a single nation.

My reconception of Dragonball would follow the same way but different in terms , obviously you fans of the series would know. Most important, Dragonball needs to desperately get polished with consistency its not even funny since it goes into a radically different direction at Z, where most of the elements from DragonBall were thrown out sans characters into making it a scifi story. An American revision seems to be the only way to bring the series justice since Toriyama doesn't give a rat's ass about it any longer and if I had any suggestions as to who should do it, it should be the crew of Avatar :TLA.

It's not that a non-Japanese version is a bad idea, it's just that it's not been done and executed correctly. Trust me , just because it would be done by Americans doesn't mean it would lose the charm and quality of it because from my observations, the natives haven't given the series justice either in one way or another save for PLUTO and the Black Jack OVAs.

I can name of a few artists and creators who would do a perfect version of them here in the States, but as far as a film goes it would have to be a reboot/ continuation. IF a reboot , I want live action but if a continuation I want a TV series based on the 2009 plot line.

An American version of the Astro Boy saga could be great, but it would have to be done for TV if not film and have the Avatar crew do it or get equally capable people to reinvent the series for a new generation and ignore the film. But bring back the voices from the film if possible.

[jeffbert]

It could be done if its writers were VERY familiar with the MIGHTY ATOM corpus. But since there are over 70 comic adventures & around 300 episodes spanning 1/2 a century, I doubt there are more than a few American screenwriters who have thorough knowledge of even 2 animated series, much less the whole corpus.

I say this knowledge is needed because we want something that is true to the legacy. Consider Urasawa's PLUTO, that work featured plot elements from all over the corpus, not just those in the versions of GREATEST ROBOT. These elements made it resonate with readers' memories of those other stories. In fact, the corpus itself uses plots & elements from Tezuka's other works. Readers of BLACK JACK recognize those from that series, while readers of other Tezuka stories likewise recognize elements from them. Tezuka borrows ideas, including his own & puts them in various series.

Suppose Ford made its own Corvette; it might even be better than Chevy's, but it would not likely be true to the legacy. People who never owned a Vette might like the Ford version, but purests would not.