Review of The Iron Giant (Special Edition) (1999)
Due to horrendous advertising that buried most of the movie’s charms, most people think this movie is a b-grade kiddie flick.But ignore thebrainless trailers and the awful extreme-sport ad campaign that accompaniedthe video release, and you’ll be rewarded with an astonishing film.
TheIron Giant is complex and sophisticated enough to be a live-action movie,indeed more complex and sophisticated than the movies that trounced it atthe box office (I’m talking to you, Inspector Gadget).It is a remarkableachievement of all the elements of a movie working at their verybest.
The visuals are astounding.The script is funny without resortingto cheap laughs.The characters are well-rounded.The voice talents areideal, from the Giant’s rumble to Hogarth’s wide-eyed wonder (for a welcomechange, a pre-adolescent boy does the voice instead of someone trying tosound like one).
Most interestingly, the movie makes such a dynamic,empathic character of the titular hunk of metal that we genuinely careabout his fate.At the film’s climactic scene, I was ashamed at the tearsrunning down my face, until I saw that my three friends (all of ustwenty-something, manly guys) were misty-eyed as well.
Anyone over theage of 8 will love this film.If you don’t like animation, try this on forsize.If you love all types of animation, see it NOW.Even though thefilm’s marketing department apparently doesn’t want you to see it, you’llbe glad you did.
Product Description
A young boy rescues a huge robot which has rocketed to earth from space – and tries to protect the genial giant from a nosey government agent and the military. A captivating animated feature that’s part metal, part magic and all heart.
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