02.08.10Dulatre, Michael Angelo A. Professional EthicsBSCS – 200710823 Prof. Raquel Bermudez

Astro Boy

Cast/Characters:

Actor/Actress RoleFreddie Highmore Toby Tenma/AstroNicolas Cage Bill TenmaKristen Bell CoraCharlize Theron "Our Friends" NarratorSamuel L. Jackson ZogBill Nighy Doctor ElefunbDonald Sutherland President StoneEugene Levy OrrinNathan Lane HameggMoisés Arias ZaneMatt Lucas SparxMadeline Carroll Widget/GraceSterling Beaumon SludgeVictor Bonavida SamTony Matthews Cora's fatherRyan Stiles Mr. MustachioDee Bradley Baker Trashcan

Summary:

In 2925 A.D., after centuries of pollution and deforestation, the scientists of Metro City decide to spare their city the same fate by removing it from Earth. The city becomes a floating island metropolis that hovers above the planet's surface, the needs of its population tended by a robotic workforce who perform all the tasks humans no longer want to.

Years later, as the film begins, pointy-haired student Toby Tenma pays a visit to his workaholic father Doctor Tenma, head of the Ministry of Science, arriving just as Tenma is meeting with the city's militaristic president Stone, together; they view a lecture held by Doctor Elefun on a new energy source the ministry has extracted from the heart of a star: a self-sustaining positive "blue core" energy, with a negative "red core" byproduct. Stone is intent on using these energies to fuel his new "Peacekeeper" military robot, and insists on installing the red core in the robot. The negative energies cause the robot to rampage, and it vaporizes Toby before Doctor Elefun is able to shut it down.

Mourning the loss of his son, Doctor Tenma tries to replace Toby with a highly-advanced robot crafted in his image, programmed with all his memories taken from Toby's DNA and powered by the blue core, supplied Doctor Elefun. Once activated, the robot seems to be a perfect copy of Toby, but when Doctor Tenma takes him home, the robots behavior begins to increasingly differ from Toby's, making Tenma realize that Toby cannot truly be replaced. The situation reaches a head when Toby falls from his bedroom window and discovers that he had rockets built into his legs, the activation of which causes a flare of core energy that draws the attention of Stone.

Toby evades the troops Stone dispatches to capture him and returns home, where Doctors Tenma and Elefun reveal his true nature to him. Tenma tells Toby a lie that he no longer wants him, and the devastated Toby flies off, but not before Elefun assures him that he has a place somewhere in the world. Moments later, however, Toby is ambushed by Stone's military forces, and sent tumbling to the Earth's surface below.

On the surface, Astro meets a robot dog named Trashcan, who leads him into a trap set by a gang of kids, led by a girl named Cora. The gang are out to capture robots, but, thinking Toby is a human, the kids set him free, but he is then abducted by a trio of robots calling themselves the "Robot Revolutionary Front", who name him "Astro". The trio warn Astro about the Hamegg, who they claim enslaves robots, but the kids then arrive to rescue Astro and take him back to their home. There, Astro discovers that Hamegg is actually a Fagin-like father figure to the children, a former inhabitant of Metro City who was fired from the Ministry who repairs robots. Astro joins the kids in searching for broken robots for Hamegg to fix, and comes upon construction robot named Zog. Using the power of his blue core, Astro revives Zog, and the kids fix so he can partake in Hamegg's "Robot Games." However, the games turned out to be gladiatorial matches in which the losing robot is destroyed, and Hamegg forces Astro to participate as well, having deduced that he is a robot. Astro prevails until he is matched against Zog, whom he refuses to fight, but Zog has been affected by Astro's blue core energy and also refuses to do battle. Instead, Zog turns on Hamegg and almost kills him before Astro stops him. Just then, Stone's military forces arrive, having finally tracked down Astro. Having seen that Cora, for whom he has felt an attraction, is rejecting him upon discovering his secret, Astro does not fight back, and allows Stone to take him back to Metro City.

Stone brings Astro to Doctor Tenma, who has agreed to remove the core and place it within Stone's Peacekeeper. At the last moment, Tenma repents and realizes that while Astro isn't Toby, he is still his son, and he allows Astro to escape. Intent on capturing Astro, the demented Stone once again places the red core in the Peacekeeper, and the robot once again runs out of control, using its assimilating powers to absorb Stone. With his consciousness now driving the robot, Stone heads after Astro, absorbing every weapon and structure it comes across. In the resulting showdown, the power source keeping the city aloft is destroyed, but Astro manages to set it down safely before continuing the battle. Stone attempts to absorb Astro, but their cores react and blast them apart. Knowing that the Peacekeeper must be stopped, Astro flies into the Peacekeeper's red core, resulting in a massive explosion that completely destroys the Peacekeeper, leaving Stone unharmed (albeit arrested) but Astro dying. However, Zog is able to return some of his core energy to Astro, reactivating him. Just before celebrations can begin, however, a large alien attacks the city, and Astro, now at peace with his robotic nature and his destiny as a hero, immediately launches into action.

Ethical Issues and Opinion:

Astro Boy is into the fast-paced direction of technology. Apparently, the movie is about the robots and how technology will look like in the near future. The following is/are the ethical issues found in the said movie:

Risks in AI(Artificial Intelligence)/RoboticsSeveral years from now, AI or robotics will be doing our tasks by the means of efficiency and less time usage when doing a work. However, we are obliged that these might bring about disadvantages such as machine malfunction wherein it might do something wrong and in the worst case scenario is to kill a person.

Reaction:

Technology makes our life easier and does it also means that it will make our life shorter? In our generation, it’s obvious that we’re now getting to the era where the things are going instant and fast-paced. This movie will make people realize that not all things must be solved or done by technology.