Fantasia 2024: HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot is Good, Clean Robo-War Fun For the Whole Family

Rich Ho is an inspiration. For ten-plus years, Ho has enveloped himself in creating a sumptuous future world where gigantic robots are piloted by military operatives who fight an interstellar war for Earth’s resources. Everything about the meticulous HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot is the product of Rich Ho’s imaginative efforts, operating in the same vein where stories exist about James Cameron. Ho spent countless hours writing, producing, directing, adding the music, obsessing over the cinematography, calculating the VFX, inventing technology for his opus, and more. To call HEAVENS a passion project or labor of love seems reductive at that point. Rich Ho sunk his entire soul into HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot, and the results speak for themselves.

The Poster for HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot shows an man in body armor positioned next to a robot above an action fueled scene of robots and people underneath. — Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

Inspiration is drawn from many places for HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot. The most glaring is Neon Genesis: Evangelion, which is about a boy summoned by his unaffectionate father to pilot a robot that will save Tokyo. In HEAVENS, the reasons are blended with other sources. Kai (Jonathan See) is only a boy when his father sacrifices himself to save the world, and his mother flies to Saturn to ensure a future where Kai won’t continue the war that’s plagued his parents’ generation. Left on a farm, Kai develops a mind for engineering equipment to help his new family out, but after hearing no response from his biological mother, he wonders and eventually leads him to the Mecha Corps, following in his parents’ footsteps.

Kai’s asthma should have stopped him at the door. Yet, his determinative spirit drives his Gattaca-esque fortitude to barely pass the physical portion of his entrance exam and enter the next stage of his military life. Through amalgamation montages, the audience watches Kai meet his fellow Mecha Corps cadets, struggle to train, and adapt to his voice-crackling Sergeant Major (Kenny Woo Kah Weng). Kai is given the name Little Boy, given his stature among the cadets, and since the mech-robots are based on personal strength and ability, he is issued the smallest one in the fleet. Appropriately naming him Little Dragon, Kai begins to bond with the mech as the two learn to depend on one another to complete Kai’s training.

Everything about HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot is enchanting. The overall thematic elements of persevering in the face of adversity are always a great way to inspire others to follow their dreams and one that likely speaks to Rich Ho’s struggles in making HEAVENS a reality. Let’s get something straight. HEAVENS is meant to be a family movie. A title parents can watch with their children without embarrassment and staunchly adheres to Ho’s production company, HEAVENS Entertainment, promise of good, clean fun. Giant robots haven’t always been so kid-friendly, with the Transformers and Pacific Rim franchises leaning heavily into adult dynamics with occasional sexual innuendos and situations. HEAVENS nods to both franchises, especially mirroring the writing and lens flare-soaked worlds of a Michael Bay film.

A large robot stands next to a man on a beach overlooking a city — Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

There are a lot of criticisms available that, I’m sure, many reviewers will make about HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot, but I’m pretty convinced there’s more to come. Rich Ho is building an immense world replete with portals to other planets that are mentioned but never traversed, characters we’ve barely had time to meet beyond their signature quirks, and enemies whose intentions are never given a perspective. While adult viewers are sure to be left with their share of questions, I suspect HEAVENS is an expanding universe, and this is only a chapter of what’s to come. Should the films expand, I’m sure we’ll come to understand the nuances of Mars’ struggle against Earth and maybe even get the opportunity to travel there. Kids, on the other hand, will love the vivid colors and breakneck pace that blasts through the exposition to get to the more fun parts of the story, including competitive races and explosive robo-battles in the clouds. These are assured moments that parents and their kids will wholeheartedly agree on.

Ho worked with leading researchers at Singapore’s Nanyang Technical University and NVIDIA for over a decade to understand how to utilize GPU technology to render his effects-heavy film and make the post-production process less painful. In 2019, Ho teamed with RESIN VFX in Australia, who were already doing their own research, and achieved a breakthrough that allowed them to render the computerized elements in a fraction of the time it would have taken without it. The new technology allows the addition of real-time animation to speed up the process and provide a better appearance of interaction among the live-action and digital elements. The Robot insertion and green screen aspects of HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot are unmatched in this regard. Action sequences are crisp and exciting. The elements look great together, though I think the director uses some photographic trickery to accomplish this even better.

HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot is bright. I mean that in a very literal sense. There are few (if any) night sequences, so there are consistent lens flare overlays or animations from computer monitors in scenes that intrinsically cause viewers to try and reposition their heads, attempting to make it appear less intense. I suspect the overlays are a way to soften the digital edges of the film, which certainly works but can occasionally wear on the eye and become more noticeable in scenes that shouldn’t have it.

a man sits in a cockpit with a virtual, digital screen stretched over his view. — Image Courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival

Regardless, Rich Ho’s HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot remains a fast, funny, and ferociously entertaining movie that, while rough around the edges, is still an action-packed blast for both kids and adults. I admire almost everything about Ho’s conviction for the movie and the incredible contributions to the filmmaking world that HEAVENS will forever represent. The film is beautiful, endearing, and brimming with feel-good qualities that are almost atypical in this age of moviemaking.

HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot held its North American premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 27. For additional information, see the film’s page on the Fantasia website.