Astro Boy

Set in the future, Astro Boy is a classic superhero origin story. The all-new, CG-animated feature film tells the story of a young robot with incredible powers and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny.
In the futuristic world of Metro City, a gleaming metropolis in the sky, the brilliant scientist Dr. Tenma creates Astro Boy to replace the son he has lost, programming his creation with the best of human characteristics and values, as well as endowing him with extraordinary super powers. Cast out when he cannot meet the grieving father’s expectations, Astro Boy is dealt a cruel double blow – he is also crushed to learn he is a robot, not even a human being. Astro Boy, who carries within himself the Blue Core, a power source made of positive “blue” energy, is sought out by the troops of the militaristic President Stone, Preliminary Production Notes - Cannes ‘09 obsessed with obtaining the Core for the “Peacekeeper” robot, in fact invented to be used as a weapon to dominate Earth.
Fleeing from the military, Astro Boy crashes to the surface of the Earth. Lost and unsure of his identity, Astro Boy simply seeks to fit in. Denying his true nature, he tries to pass himself off as a human being with a gang of child-vagabonds. He falls naively under the sway of their leader Hamegg, in whom he sees a father figure. To Astro Boy’s horror, Hamegg exposes him as a robot and tries to turn him into a robot-gladiator.In the Battlebot arena, Astro Boy is forced to face wave upon wave of robots. Refusing to fight, but only disabling his opponent when the safety of spectators is threatened, Astro Boy’s nobility wins the crowd over. Alerted by the Core’s power surge, the military swoops down and captures Astro Boy, who resigns himself to his fate. As Dr. Tenma, the man who created him, removes his energy source, Astro Boy forgives him for what he is doing. This display of innate goodness finally opens Dr. Tenma’s eyes to the terrible mistake he has made. Reconciled to the son he had wrongly rejected, he allows Astro Boy to escape. The destructive Peacekeeper, which has been given the incredibly dangerous negative Red Core energy by presidential order, is out of control and causing havoc in Metro City. Astro Boy returns to help the citizens, fighting the Peacekeeper and saving Metro City from crashing to Earth. In the climactic battle, the strands of the story come together as Astro Boy accepts his mixed human-robot nature and finds his destiny as mankind’s savior. (jakelijan virallinen teksti)