After the horror of the Emoji Movie, I needed something to remind me that animated films could be good. And there's no better example of a good animated film than the Iron Giant.

The original movie poster, meant to be reminescent of old horror movie posters from the 50's and 60's

Background and BTS:

The Iron Giant is loosely based on a book by British author and poet Ted Hughes, called the Iron Man. The book was localized as the Iron Giant in the US, as to not cause confusion with Marvel's Iron Man character, who had just been created at the time. In 1994, a film project began based on the book, starting as a musical with songs written by Pete Townshend of the Who, but it remained dormant until Brad Bird, an ex Disney animator, past creative consultant for the Simpsons, and director of the Pixar films The Incredibles and Ratatouille, signed onto the project. The Iron Giant would become Brad Birds first film. The screenplay was written by Tim McCanlies, who also wrote Dennis the Menace Strikes Again. The film starred Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald, Harry Connick Jr, Jennifer Aniston, and John Mahoney.

Hogarth meets the Giant for the first time.

Plot Summary:

Hogarth Hughes is a kid with a big imagination. He and his mom live alone, with his mom working as a waitress in a local diner. When he comes to visit the diner, he overhears a conversation about a giant figure from space that a fisherman believes he saw. He also meets a guy named Dean, who pretends to believe the guy about the giant figure. That night, Hogarth actually encounters the figure, who appears to be a giant robot. The robot begins to eat whatever metal he can find, but gets electrocuted when it tries to eat transmission wires from an electrical substation. Hogarth turns off the substation and the robot runs off. Hogarth tracks it down and befriends it when he realizes it's actually pretty docile and curious. He learns that the robot can self repair when it gets hit by a train after eating the tracks. Hogarth hides the robot in his barn, and read him comics. The robot seems especially interested in Superman.

Due to sightings of the robot, US government agent Kent Mansley is sent to the torn to investigate. After his car gets eaten by the robot, he becomes increasingly interested in it. When he discovers Hogarth's involvement, he rents the vacant room at his house and constantly checks up on him, much to Hogarth's annoyance. He ends up hiding the robot in Deans junkyard.

Eventually, Kent discovers the robot's location and calls in the military, but Hogarth and Dean disguise the robot as an art installation, leading to the military being called off. Soon after, when Hogarth and the robot are playing around, Hogarth pulls out a toy laser gun, and the robot activates a self defence mode and accidentally brandishes a weapon. Dean, thinking the robot was acting on its own, orders him to leave, but after seeing it wasn't trying to hurt Hogarth, the two chase after it. It runs into town and saves two boys from falling off a roof, immediately winning over the townspeople. The military attacks suddenly, causing the robot to go back into defence mode, until Hogarth calms it down. The robot picks up Hogarth and begins to fly away, until the military shoots it down. The robot is fine, but Hogarth is knocked unconscious. Thinking he's dead, the robot becomes enraged and attacks the military with its weaponry. Hogarth wakes up and calms the robot down again, and Dean explains the situation to the general of the military. While the general is ready to stand down, Kent goes over his head and orders a missile strike, but the missile is targeted to the robots current location, which is inside the town. As soon as the missile strikes, everyone will die. The robot decides to intercept the missile, even though it will cause his death in the process. He flies into the sky, remembering the Superman comics Hogarth had shown him, and sacrifices himself to save the town.

Months later, a statue of the robot is constructed in the town, and the general sends a package to Hogarth containing a bolt from the robot, apparently the last remnant they could find. That night, the bolt begins to move on its own, and Hogarth lets it out of his window, where it begins to travel. The bolt, along with other parts of the robot, converge together in Alaska, where the robot begins to put itself back together.

The Giant pretends to be Superman.

Characters:

The characters in this movie are all enjoyable in their own way. Hogarth is a pretty fun character, and he acts a lot like a normal kid would in the situations in the movie... kinda. He's obviously written a little over the top. I know I would react like him if I came across a giant sentient robot. However, some of his dialogue is a little too adult. Specifically the scene where he explains the concept of death to the Giant, and at the end where the bomb is about to drop. I think a normal kid his age would probably cry or something is he knew he and everything he loved was gonna get nuked. Overall, though, I like Hogarth and he's probably one of the better child characters in an animated movie.

And then there's the villain, Kent Mansley. Okay, I have a question. Why is he not a meme yet? Seriously, he's the most meme-worthy character I've ever seen! His reactions and facial expressions are hilarious, especially when he tries, and fails, to keep up a calm and composed demeanour. He's a pretty great villain too, but one thing I don't like too much is his design. He looks more like a good guy or a side character. In fact, the army general character looks like much more of a villain. Not sure why they didn't swap the roles. The general would have been much more intimidating than just a government agent. Either way, Kent Mansley is great, and he should be a meme as soon as possible.

The mom and Dean are pretty great too. The mom kinda reminds me of Elastagirl from the Incredibles, another Brad Bird movie. She's kind of a generic mom character, but there's something about her that I really like. I'm not sure if it's her design or her dialogue, but I really like her for some reason. Dean is probably my second favourite character, next to Mansley. I guess I identify with Dean because we're both artists, but he's also really funny with just how deadpan he is. Even when the military shows up at his doorstep, he's completely laid back. I love his design too, with the black hair and turtleneck. Actually, all the character designs in this movie are great.

And finally, there's the Giant. One thing that you'll immediately notice is that while the rest of the movie is hand drawn animation, the Giant is CG. But after a while, you barely notice. It blends in so well it doesn't look out of place. Personality wise, he's a bit like Wall-E or Johnny Five, or Chappy. And I'm not just saying that because they're all robots. He's also very similar to Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, and I'd be surprised if Vin Deisel didn't take a lot from the Giant to Groot's character. He's innocent, but you get the feeling he's not supposed to be, like he's a malfunctioning war machine or something. In fact, in a deleted scene that was added to the directors cut of the movie, it's revealed there's actually more than one Giant, and they were used as war machines by an alien race. I would have loved to see this dived into a bit more, to be honest. I also love his obsession with Superman, and that's not just because I'm a comic book nerd. Superman is one of the biggest symbols of good in modern media. It makes sense that someone who wants to be good would identify with a symbol of good. Like the other characters, I love his design too.

Dean, my second favourite character from the movie.

Good And Bad:

The animation is phenomenal. You can tell Brad Bird is ex-Disney. It's a bit like Don Bluth almost, but much less fluid and much more realistic. The Giant, despite being CG in a hand drawn background, blends in perfectly. I honestly didn't even remember he was CG until I wrote it down for this review. The voice acting and writing is awesome too, and really breathes life into these likeable characters. It's one of the first animated films that I think deserves a sequel. Yeah, I think a lot of animated films should have sequels, but only the Iron Giant really deserves one. The original book even had a sequel, so there's a good reason for one. With or without a sequel, it's one of my favourite animated films.

However, there's also a few not so good things about it. For example, I think the plot is kinda overdone. It's a boy and his dog... er, robot. There's a scene where Hogarth has to distract his mom while the Giant is peeking in through the window. That's been done so many times it hurts. Even Micheal Bay did that in Transformers. Even though I love the villain, he was more of a bumbling idiot than a real villain. But he kinda goes back and forth between intimidating and goofy. I also don't really like the happy ending. Yes, it's an amazing moment, but I think the movie would have ended a little better if the Giant didn't come back at the end. That kinda felt a little too childish, and this movie isn't specifically for kids.

The Giant is set to make a cameo appearance in the upcoming film, Ready Player One.

Final Verdict:

The Iron Giant is one of the most amazing animated films of all time. It may have strayed from the original source material quite a bit, but I think that's for the best. The story is great, the characters are great, and the art and animation is fantastic. If you're an animation fan, or a sci fi fan, you should see this movie. It's great for kids, teens, and adults alike.

Final Grade: A+

Oh hey, Halloween's coming up! Now I get to review something scary. And I think I know exactly what I'm gonna review. Now If you'll excuse me, I have to float away now. Maybe you'll float too...