You hear a lot of talk these days about "awakening the child within." This can be misleading. Insofar as "the child within" refers to a capacity for wonder, faith, and delight in imagination, it would be better to speak of these characteristics as fundamental human qualities. Sadly, these qualities are suppressed and stifled in many of us grownups, leaving us less human, less healthy, less hopeful. Well-written children stories--from Milne to Seuss to Tolkien, and even George Lucas--still appeal to adults because they "reawaken" the humanness we have lost through cynicism, selfish ambition, pride, and other trappings of "maturity." But moviemakers usually focus on entertaining instead of storytelling. Thus, very few "family movies" strike those chords of basic human longing and fear that resonate in the hearts of child and grownup alike.
The Iron Giant is a perfect exception. It's an instant classic, if there is such a thing, belonging on the shelf with E.T., The Black Stallion, Beauty and the Beast, and Star Wars. The story of the boy Hogarth and his discovery of an enormous wayward robot speaks to every human being's desire for friendship, fear of being alone, fear of being different, desire to overcome a bully, and longing to be trusted, loved, and believed.
Starting with a powerful, seemingly simple storyline from a Ted Hughes story, director and animator Brad Bird built "The Iron Giant" with perfect voice-casting, bright bold animation, and a powerful Michael Kamen soundtrack. By placing the story cleverly in the 1950s era of paranoia and post-war idealism, and by evoking our nostalgia for comic books, Norman Rockwell images, and a time when life was less complicated and full of dreams, Bird is able to speak to anyone at any time without compromising his story's historical setting. Yet, there's a highly-caffeinated energy to this movie that will hold the attention-deficit-disorder generation that's filling the theatre. This is, after all, a Warner Brothers cartoon. Bird doesn't need to push the envelope of animation technique to wow the audience (even though the animation is indeed impressive); he holds our attention by making the characters interesting and setting up some elaborately funny, frightening, and beautiful scenes.
Hogarth Hughes is as believable and authentic as an animated child character can get. His imagination runs like a hyperactive squirrel through his environment--which makes for an especially hysterical scene when the boy discovers espresso for the first time. Without exaggerating Hogarth's loneliness, Bird lets the audience figure out that the boy's father is gone. (Is he dead? Did he leave? There's a hint in a photograph, but we don't know for sure. We don't need to know.) Just the fact that he only has his mother makes it entirely believable that he would be preoccupied with finding a friend. A pet just won't do the trick.
The new friend that comes along is lonely too. The Iron Giant (voice by the appropriately named Vin Diesel) is a massive robot who falls to earth and lands in the woods outside of Rockwell (as in Norman?), Maine. A bump on his head disorients him, and he lumbers about like an overgrown toddler with one thing on his mind...food. In his case, food is metal, so when he stumbles onto a power generator, he begins munching away delightedly, until he bites into the wrong thing. Hogarth, who has heard rumors of something alien in the woods, discovers the giant just in time to save his life. A powerful bond is formed between the two, and Hogarth comes to realize he has won a powerful and dangerous friend. His efforts to communicate with this enormous, soft-spoken brute are comical and endearing, and the robot's simple language and childlike curiosity make him loveable. The animators that designed the giant give him a tangible weight, a world of wonderful machinery sounds, and a torso that's full of transformational surprises; he's every little boy's dream toy, and he's got an expressive steamshovel face that can make you laugh and cry.
The masterstroke in this film is Hogarth's affection for comic books, and how the Iron Giant's emotional response to a comic leads us to the film's fantastic finale. When Hogarth brings out a classic Superman comic book, it is more than just childhood nostalgia that goes to work; it's the simple appeal of a world where one man can make a difference in the struggle against evil. (Take note: It's also a story about how art can influence behavior.) You see, the Giant is a loaded weapon walking around, oblivious to his own destructive power. In a move that's almost too preachy, there's a blatant allusion to the death of Bambi's mother, which leads Hogarth to teach the robot that killing is always a bad thing, that guns are bad, and that no matter what, the robot needs to give up the use of his built-in weaponry. Slowly, the Giant learns to deny his own programming and be a gentle do-gooder.
Of course, as in all stories of simple-minded kind-hearted Frankensteins, the rest of the world does not understand. Hogarth, like Elliott in E.T., has a hard enough time finding a friend who will believe him and help him keep his secret. Dean the Beatnik (voice by Harry Connik, Jr.) is a likeable but reluctant pal, a scrap metal artist-in-residence at a junkyard who can provide the giant with a hiding place AND a buffet. Hogarth's mother (voice by Jennifer Aniston) isn't quite prepared for the truth, but we trust she won't be the one to turn Hogarth in to the authorities.
No, the real threat here comes from a fast-talking, mean-spirited, suspicious government agent patrolling the area in response to rumors of a mechanical menace. Kent Mansley is a fantastic villain, a slick trenchcoated guy with a glamorous grin. He wants to know what's chewing up automobiles and knocking out power generators. Suspecting that it's something cooked up by the Russians, he's determined to squeeze the truth out of Hogarth. Mansley doesn't need fiery red eyes or the sinister voice of a celebrity to make him scary. It's his relentlessness and his tendency to overreact that makes this loose cannon a genuine threat. Again, Bird is careful to develop a strong character instead of re-cycling the typical Disney stock villain. Mansley is pathetic and mean-spirited not because he is an agent of the military, but because he's consumed by fear.
From Aladdin to Tarzan, Disney has perfected their strategy for marketing their all-ages animated movies. The company thrives on what critic Jeffrey Wells calls the "but" factor--they make their money on movies that cause people to say "It wasn't that great, BUT...the animation was good" or "BUT...Robin Williams was great as the genie."
The Iron Giant has no "but" factor; there's nothing substandard about it. In fact, if Warner Brothers had believed in this movie enough, they might have set the standard for years to come. Tragically, there was very little promotion, and the movie is floundering at the box office. This is a tragic miscalculation.
The Iron Giant has things that no
animated movie has had for years--genre-specific integrity, a rock-solid
uncompromising script, and a classic story. But best of all, it's
built on the principle that never gets old--that it's important to reach
out and love those different from yourself, even if you have to risk all
you have. It may not be the most sophisticated or artful movie of
the year, but it's definitely the most solidly built, funny, and entertaining
movie for kids of all ages that I've seen in a
decade.
And because of that, it's this 29 year-old kid's favorite movie of 1999 so far.
Jeffrey Overstreet
| Jeffrey Overstreet writes regular reviews, news, and essays on the arts and Christian perspectives at the Green Lake Reflections web page and in The Crossing, a magazine for Christian artists. He has been published in Christianity and the Arts Magazine, The New Christian Herald, and AngliCan Arts Magazine, and he is a founding member of Promontory Artists Association. You can contact Jeffrey at Promontory@aol.com. |
On the surface, The Iron Giant is merely an engaging, entertaining tale of a boy from the fifties who meets and befriends a mysterious, sentient robot, and then has myriad adventures trying to protect it from a misguided government agent. As such, it is a delightful mix of computer and standard animation rendered sharply with beautiful colors, tones, and textures. The voice talent is topnotch, the characters remarkably life-like for cartoons, and Disney excesses like silly sidekicks and musical numbers are politely avoided. But this deceptively simple story is so much more. The obvious Cold War analogies aside, The Iron Giant is less a clever plea for gun control, tolerance, and world peace as it is a bold declaration for the sanctity of life. Particularly human life, which the movie depicts as being of eternal value. This magnanimous message is handled both deftly and warmly, and the result is a movie many will rightly call an "instant classic." Both C.S. Lewis's work and more recently the movie Babe remind us that so-called children's tales are often the best, most disarming tales for any audience of any age. Ask yourself, when was the last time a "cartoon" both boldly championed eternal life and provided true catharsis? Then make every effort to see what just may be the best film so far of 1999. Kiddies in tow is not a prerequisite.
Steven S. Baldwin 8/25/99
Expectations can affect a person's reactions in powerful ways. That seems particularly true for how we look at movies. If you have high hopes for a film (either because of your own bias or things you've heard), the movie has to be pretty good not to leave you feeling a little cheated. On the other hand, if you're not expecting much, the possibility rises of being pleasantly surprised. I'm sure that part of why I liked The Sixth Sense so much was that I was expecting the worst. And I'm equally sure that part of my disappointment with Iron Giant was that I had read so many good things.
Since Jeffrey Overstreet and Steve Baldwin have made strong cases for why they liked the film so much, I'll spend most of my time offering a counter-review. First off, the story isn't particularly innovative. Basically, it's about a little boy who finds something special and tries to keep it away from the big bad adults. That's pretty standard fare for a kid's film--think of E.T., among others. And the villain in Iron Giant is so crassly portrayed, with his large ego and despicable values, I can't see why adults find the conflict compelling at all.
Secondly, the animation itself isn't terribly good. The backgrounds are bland, without any hint of depth or shadow; and they don't draw you into the setting in the way that Tarzan or Beauty and the Beast did. And the character's faces, always the most critical aspect of an animated film, are flat and square. At times they reminded me of Hanna-Barbera's ridiculous sixties animation.
Thirdly, the anti-gun message is so over-the-top and flagrant. I'm certainly no gun nut, but even I got tired of the harping.
I will admit that the animation for the Giant itself is awesome. It's faithful to the robotic image and yet, even within that strict limitation, conveys so much emotion and pathos. Furthermore, the relationship between the boy and robot is sweet and affecting. And I was never bored, which is pretty good for a children's film.
In the end, though, I think a large part
of whether you like the film will depend on what you're expecting. If you're
thinking it's just a kid's movie, you'll probably be thrilled (particularly
if you loathe song-and-dance numbers, of which Iron Giant has none).
On the other hand, if you've read all the critics and are expecting a new
masterpiece, well you'll probably be a little disappointed, just like I
was.
J. Robert Parks 9/6/99
