From the beginning the movie clearly had to be made for a mainstream audience of children. Astroboy is for children, and the movie reflects this. I watched the movie with a 6 year old, he enjoyed it because it was simple in its approach and he was part of the target audience.
I am at the very least glad they didn't downplay the tragic death of poor Toby, they didn't change that, he died, that to me is the most critical single idea in the entire franchise, we also got to see Tenma reject Astro and finally got to see Astro on a journey to discover who he is. Given the timeframe of the movie I think they achieved these basic stepping stones in the plot very well.
While I think darker and grittier would make the movie more enjoyable to me (and a few other people here) I didn't go into the movie expecting that. The children wouldn't enjoy it as much and likely wouldn't understand the messages being put across. If another series were made we could explore that, like 03 did but not within the timeframe of a movie.
Oh, and for the record, I think Astro looked plenty cute given he had to be done in 3d, I may be one of the few people here happy to say "I think the 3d artists did a good job." I personally think that if you made him any younger that he just wouldn't fit into the plot of the movie... let alone the plot of the deeper and darker story you were after.
PS: Opinions are great, they help us discuss stuff
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