Amelia Earhart was one of the most charismatic, energetic, and spontaneous women ever. Forgetting all her feats as arguably the most famous pilot in this country's history, beyond that she was strong and fiercely loyal, a member of the National Women's Party who fought for equal rights for women in every facet of life. She overcame a very humble upbringing to dominate a field that pretty much only used women as props or gimmicks. Sure, her untimely disappearance is what attracts most people to her story, but she was far more than a pilot and much more interesting than just her demise.
Unfortunately, Amelia never really gets to shine in Mira Nair's new film. Hilary Swank, looking wind swept and tomboyish as the famed aviatrix, portrays Amelia like she's simply reciting lines cobbled together from a Wikipedia entry. She certainly looks like the part. Her resemblance to Amelia is staggering, but does she capture her energy? Her spirit? Unfortunately, no she doesn't. A lot of that has to do with the script, which is a basic by the numbers sequence of events. Amelia attends a function here; attends a function there; pretty boring stuff. We do get to see snippets of her married life with promoter and publisher, George Putnam(Richard Gere), but none of it has any fire to it. In real life, their marriage was a powerful game of tug of war. She wasn't the marrying type to begin with, yet he was instantly smitten. She has an affair with Gene Vidal(Ewan McGregor), father to Gore Vidal, but even that scandalous chapter is stale and uninteresting. Little conflict arises from it.
By the time the film reaches the conclusion we all know is coming, I had ceased caring. That's a shame because the final twenty minutes of the story is the most gripping and emotional. Maybe its' because we finally see Amelia at her toughest and most defiant. Too bad we didn't get to see more of it. 5/10
Astro Boy
I'll tell you what, if I had guns that fired out of my arse I'd be having a lot more fun than Astro Boy(Freddie Highmore) is having. He has good reason, though, I mean he is basically the reincarnation of a scientist's dead son, Toby. That can't be a fun gig. Dr. Tenma, stricken with grief and guilt over his son's death, built a robot in the boy's image. He is powered by a cosmic blue energy of limitless reserves, which is clean and pure. But it has a counter, a dark red energy that causes nothing but chaos. The government, ofcourse, likes that nasty red one better. When Dr. Tenma realizes that Astro Boy can never replace his dead son, Astro flees to the world below, a virtual ghetto and slum where society's poor reside. There, he meets with a group of kids who help him find a place where he can truly belong, but eventually he knows he must return to thwart the President's plot to use the evil red energy to wage war with the world.
Astro Boy is a gorgeous film, rendered in beautiful 2-D computer animation that uses every vibrant color on the palette. I hope all those who seem to think every animated movie needs to be in 3-D take a gander at it. Most kids will be attracted to the little robot boy with the laser beam eyes and rocket boots, but adults will find little to excite them. I couldn't get a grip on what the tone of the film was supposed to be. It's certainly got a lot to say about how we treat society's poor, our reliance on technology, and the damage we're doing to the environment. Kids won't get any of that, though, and for them Astro Boy has enough giant robot humor to keep them entertained. Adults and hardcore Astro Boy fans need not apply.
5/10
