Movie Guys: ‘Iron Giant’ a towering achievement in animation

Friday, Aug. 6, 1999 | 10:35 a.m.

The Movie Guys, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun (Movie Buzz written by Thomas Feeney). You can also read their capsule reviews of movies in Las Vegas Weekly magazine. Plus, check them out online at lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/movies and themovieguys.com.

Grades: Jeff, A; Dave, A.

Starring: The voices of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Christopher McDonald, Vin Diesel, Cloris Leachman, M. Emmet Walsh, John Mahoney and Eli Marienthal.

Directed by: Brad Bird.

Screenplay by: Tim McCanlies.

Rated: PG.

Running Time: 85 minutes.

Playing at: Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Las Vegas Drive-In, Century Desert, Cinedome 12 Henderson, Century Orleans 12, UA Rainbow Promenade.

Synopsis: What would you do if you found a 50-foot robot in you back yard? That's the dilemma facing curious 9-year-old Hogarth Hughes when he is out exploring one night and discovers the Iron Giant. While he attempts to hide his gentle, giant robot, the townspeople grow suspicious after a nosy government agent is dispatched to the scene. Now Hogarth must protect his friend from being discovered in this animated adventure based on a novel by England's late Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes.

Jeff: "The Iron Giant" is a very special kind of film that transforms any mature adult into a 12-year-old kid again. Never before have I seen an animated film with such imagination, wonder, humor and superb production values. "The Iron Giant" proves you can make an exciting, full-length animated film without having the need to burst into a song or generate annoying little sidekick characters for comic relief.

The premise is simple: A robot from outer space drops from the sky one night in the small town of Rockwell, Maine, and befriends a little boy named Hogarth. I ask you, what kid wouldn't want his own space robot to command at will? It's a simple story in a simple time (the 1950s) when it meant something to be a 12 year-old. No MTV, no WWF or Sony Playstation, but instead kids used their imaginations for playing astronaut (due to the excitement surrounding the emerging space race), read comic books and sneaked peeks at B-monster movies on the late, late show. "The Iron Giant" captures what childhood is all about -- innocence and imagination.

Dave: It is truly a refreshing look in animation in this day and age when studios rely heavily on taking the animation out of the animation. By that, of course, I mean making animated films appear real, more organic. Don't get me wrong -- the evolution of this creative style of filmmaking has been innovative in computer graphics and special effects, and has allowed its audiences to experience what live-action could never achieve. "The Iron Giant," however, possesses a primitive graphic design that is associated with old-school comic books and old-fashioned storytelling.

Based on the acclaimed novel, "The Iron Man," by Ted Hughes, the film follows the adventures of Hogarth (voiced by the young and energetic Eli Marienthal) and his discovery of a 50-foot robot, whose large appetite consists of anything and everything metal. The film carefully sets up the era that it is placed in with humorous school films, where the message is "duck-and-cover," the mentality behind the Cold War, and a supportive cast of characters that defines its stereotypes (a beatnik, a slick government agent, etc.).

Jeff: The film is set at the start of the red scare, with the launching of Sputnik (by the Soviet Union) and the start of the space race, which sends the nation into a panic. The United States is convinced that the Russian attack will come from space, far above the Earth, with new advanced weapons. Paranoia runs rampant. Enter the government agent (voiced pompously by Christopher McDonald) sent to investigate the object that supposedly has fallen from the sky.

Hogarth tries to hide the giant, but to no avail, and the agent is convinced that he's a weapon sent to destroy them. He calls in the Army to stop this menace and to preserve the American way of life. Only Hogarth knows the giant's gentle ways and his ability to listen and learn his every command. It's a child teaching a child of our customs and morals, but Hogarth is more mature than any adult character in the film, and it's through his innocence that the faults and errors of the Army and the townspeople are finally realized.

Dave: In a spectacular ending that has our iron hero flying through the skies, dodging the vicious airstrike against him and performing a heroic deed, audiences get a welcome message for humanity that is indeed inspiring. After a dismal step in the competitive world of feature animation with clunkers such as "Quest for Camelot" and this year's "The King and I," Warner Bros. has struck gold -- largely due to the experienced animator and writer/director, Brad Bird. Best known for his founding/producing contributions on the long-running Fox series "The Simpsons," Bird may have solidified himself with the studio's crowning achievement. "The Iron Giant" is a terrific sci-fi fantasy, and an absolutely wonderful film!

Jeff: Yes! Praise all around for Brad Bird, and if Warner Bros. was smart, it would hold on to him with both hands. The battle on the ground pits the metal goliath against the United States Army, lead by General Shannon Rogard (voiced by "Frasier" cast member John Mahoney), that launches an all-out attack. The Giant becomes a Transformer, morphing into a killing machine, sporting a look and cosmic weapons that resemble something from the mind of H.G. Wells. It's a fantastic finish, all in a blaze of glory that at the end leaves a lesson of anti-violence and the story wide open to a sequel.

"The Iron Giant" owes much of its inspiration to Max Fleisher's "Superman vs. The Mechanical Monsters" cartoon of the 1940s, but it is Brad Bird who is responsible for this true gem of film that will have audiences cheering in the aisles for the gentle giant. It's one of the year's best films and I hope you won't miss it.

Movie Buzz

Rock by 'Osmosis': Actor/comedian Chris Rock will lend his distinctive voice to Warner Bros.' "Osmosis Jones," the studio's next major animated feature about a streetwise blood cell. David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") will join him as Drix, an inexperienced cold tablet who teams up with Osmosis to thwart an evil virus out to destroy the body of a construction worker. Pop star Brandy is negotiating to voice the female lead.

'Fantasy' cast: An even more impressive list of celebrities are lending their voices to the upcoming Columbia Pictures project, "Final Fantasy: The Movie." Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi and James Woods are among the stars attached to the sci-fi, computer-generated film. The filmmakers will attempt to simulate human emotions and movements more realistically than any previous computer-generated animated picture. Other famous voices in the film will include those of Peri Gilpin, Ving Rhames and Donald Sutherland. "Fantasy" is set for 2001.

'The Blair Sequel Project': Artisan Entertainment is so thrilled with the media and box-office juggernaut that is "The Blair Witch Project" that it is said to be planning a sequel. According to USA Today, plans are in the works to have a sequel finished in time to hit theater screens in summer 2000. A TV series spin-off is also said to be in the works. We wonder just how many kids will have to disappear in the woods next time ... and will they have more expensive equipment?

Name That Flick

What is the name of the actress who played Witchiepoo in the "Pufnstuf" movie? Greg Zastava was the first to correctly answer (via e-mail), Billie Hayes! Way to go, Greg! For this week what was the name of the first theatrical cartoon with sound? If you think you know, call the Movie Guys Hotline at 225-9026 or log onto our website at www.themovieguys.com. Be sure to spell your name and if you're the first to answer correctly, we will print your name right here in our column for the entire Las Vegas Valley to read.

Be sure to pick up this week's issue of the Las Vegas Weekly to read our exclusive interview with Brad Bird, director of "The Iron Giant." See you next week!

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