THE IRON GIANT
Based
on Ted Hughes' 1968 children's book The Iron Man, the Warner
Bros. Animation studio's latest feature, about a boy who befriends
a giant extraterrestrial robot, is its most satisfying since 1993's
noir-inspired Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (which
was made by WB Animation's television division). Like the Batman:
The Animated Series feature spinoff, The Iron Giant
is rated PG and intended for older children
and adults, and it doesn't insult the intelligence of either group. In
fact, The Iron Giant, written by Tim McCanlies, is
one of the most intelligently scripted sci-fi films in recent
times; the thoughtful (and never didactic) way it deals with themes
of man's abuse of weapons and xenophobia puts the sitcom writing
of Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich's live-action effects extravaganzas
to shame.
Set in the small Maine town of Rockwell,
shortly after the Soviets' launching of the Sputnik satellite,
the movie wittily recalls the Cold War paranoia of the government
and the military. A classroom views an animated educational filmstrip
that closely resembles the government's "Duck and Cover"
bomb shelter-safety public-service ads. The impulsiveness of the
government and the military is mocked in the forms of a self-serving
Fed (voice of Christopher McDonald) and a gung-ho general (voice
of John Mahoney), both in pursuit of the title character (voice
of Vin Diesel, the doomed Good Samaritan private in Saving
Private Ryan).
Nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (voice
of Eli Marienthal) is the first to discover this cybernetic E.T.,
which crash-lands in the backwoods and looks like a cross between
Gigantor and Ultraman. The film never goes into detail about the
metal-eating robot's origins, but it suggests it was constructed
by aliens as a defense weapon, like the Battledroids in The Phantom Menace.
The giant robot is the playmate Hogarth always wanted. In between
all the child's play, Hogarth teaches his new friend about humanity and valuing life, with the help
of his collection of Superman and Spirit comics.
The boy convinces a beatnik scrap-metal sculptor (voice of Harry
Connick, Jr.) to hide the gentle, childlike robot in his junkyard,
from both the townspeople and McDonald's slimy government agent,
who will stop at nothing to destroy this visitor he doesn't understand.
The animation is directed with both
grace and Simpsons-style whimsy by Simpsons veteran
Brad Bird, whose character designs are reminiscent of his earlier
"Family Dog," an amusing installment of the late '80s
Steven Spielberg anthology show Amazing Stories (it was
later spun off into a dreadful short-lived CBS series, done without
Bird). The movie's executive producer is Pete Townshend, who recorded
a concept album based on Hughes' book a few years ago. The
Who guitarist deserves kudos for not throwing in needless pop
songs on the soundtrack, a temptation even the somewhat overrated
Tarzan
could not resist.
© 2002 Jim Aquino