Appropriately for a film about robots, efficiency is the primary virtue of “Astro Boy,” a well-oiled CG-animated superhero pic that makes up in competence and vitality what it lacks in originality.

Lovely dollops of wit and warmth float through the big-screen version of “Astro Boy,” the latest Japanese TV cartoon to make it to the big screen. But the look, themes and slam-bang “Transformers” ...

Cathal McGuinness is a recent college graduate from Dublin, Ireland. He has been writing short stories and articles from the age of 15. He was awarded the George Dempsey prize for English Prose ...