Warner Bros., Rated PG
Written and Directed by Brad Bird
Warner Bros. makes up for the bland Quest for Camelot and atrocious King and I (too bad they couldn't promote this terribly ignored film better) with this instant classic, and more proof that the best animated features are no longer being made at Disney. Bird was a writer for "The Simpsons," and it shows. The script is one of the most clever for any animated film and almost nothing is dumbed down for the audience. This may be the smartest movie made for families all year.
The film is about a young boy named Hogarth (Eli Marienthal in the best child's performance of 1999, never mind Jake Lloyd or Haley Joel Osment) who grows up in the 1950s and has a vivid imagination. Hogarth is a very realistic and intelligent portrayal of most young boys. I was astonished at how he was not reduced to using "smart-aleck" comments or annoying slang. He happens upon a giant robot who mysteriously fell on the sky earlier. The giant suffers from a bump on the head that gives him a lower intelligence than that of Hogarth. Hogarth teaches the robot right and wrong, using comic books. It is quite obvious that Bird grew up like most of us who are or long to be involved in the entertainment industry, reading comic books and enjoying old science fiction movies. Hogarth must hide the giant from his mother (Jennifer Aniston), who is also never dumbed down like most in recent films. The giant is investigated by a CIA man (Christopher McDonald, perfectly cast) who has quite a paranoia about the dangers of the Cold War. Hogarth then runs into a beatnik (Harry Connick, Jr.) who learns of his secret and hides the giant for him. All elements of the '50s are tackled here and the depth to almost everything in the movie is jaw-dropping, especially for a movie intended for families.
The only place in which the film suffers is in part of the message. It's all too convenient that the giant can become a living gun, which perpetuates the idea that guns can cause violence all by themselves. I had to cringe when the sentence "Guns kill" was actually uttered. The movie unfortunately is too lazily P.C. for its own good. If they had put as much intelligence into the movie's message as they had the rest, it would be a perfect effort.
The movie is still better than most family entertainment made lately and despite its poor showing and deceptive ad campaign, one should seek it out wherever they can. The Iron Giant is a giant among the latest crop of animated films. *** 1/2
Back to the main page
