Wow, did Warner Bros. use up their annual supply of cinematic crap with “Wild, Wild West”? How else do you explain “Deep Blue Sea” not ending up a total abomination and now “The Iron Giant”? “The Matrix” and “Eyes Wide Shut” were both made out of studio reach, but these new releases were closer to in-house productions.
Based on the 1968 story, “The Iron Man” by British poet laureate Ted Hughes (to help his children recover from the suicide of their mother, Sylvia Plath), a giant mechanical man from beyond the Solar System crash-lands near Rockwell, Maine in 1957. The machine man, who must eat metal to survive, loses its memory after an accident from which he is saved by a young boy, Hogarth Hughes. Feared by the townspeople and a paranoid, self-centered government investigator, Hogarth must help the iron man find its humanity apart from the purpose of its construction. A masterpiece ensues.
What can I tell you about this film? It’s not a musical. It’s not heavy-handed. It’s not Disney. Director and co-writer Brad Bird has quietly crafted not only a great animated movie, but a great movie. This is the film that will remind you why you love movies. The honest emotions and restrained artistry contribute to a film that is superior to any Disney animation produced after Uncle Walt died. We actually get a true family film, where EVERYONE in the family can get something out of it.
That’s it. NO witty or snotty comments. If you ever believed anything from this loopy e-rag, GO SEE THIS FILM, NOW.
