When the Astro-Boy movie first introduced us to "positive blue energy" and "negative red energy" I decided to dumb myself down enough not to care. Unfortunately, this set a precedent. I really wanted to enjoy the film, and I'm afraid that by the end of it I had shed enough I.Q. to grant full sapience to a cage of guinea-pigs. (No, I didn't actually go see that movie this summer.) Drooling idiot that I had become, I was delighted with the film by the end and could find nothing wrong with it. The final battle between the blue-charged Astro-Boy and the red-charged Peacekeeper was heaps of fun, the plot twists at once surprising and chilling, and the moral lessons were both timeless and timely. I'm not suggesting that you have to be stupid to enjoy this movie, nor that those of you who loved it are lesser minds. Far from it! If you liked this film, you're smart enough to have installed an I.Q. Attenuator dial on yourself. If you dial it far enough back you can probably watch television news without wincing.
