The Iron Giant   ...   movie reviews , spoiler_medium
sat 2005-may-28 13:10:03 pdt   ...   permalink

Monday we watched The Iron Giant. It's written and directed by Brad Bird, who later did The Incredibles (though this one is traditional animation).

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I didn't really know much about it going in -- I knew that it involved a giant humanoid robot, and about the only other thing I had heard was that it's sad. That fact seemed a fairly innocuous thing to hear about a movie, but it turns out that in this case, knowing that it's going to be sad makes the last third or so of the film quite predictable. And maybe it's a fairly predictable story anyway, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so conscious of what was coming.

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In any case, it is quite well done. It's one of those stories that's written for children, but without being too simplistic. Actually, come to think of it, I guess it is somewhat simplistic in that the characters do fit "good guys vs. bad guys" archetypes. So I guess what I really mean to say is just that although it's clearly intended for children, as with The Incredibles, it's compelling enough for grownups too. (Although it's certainly not as good as The Incredibles.)

sat 2005-may-28 16:53:44 pdt
posted by Vito

Actually the giant was animated in 3D in Lightwave & rendered out with a cel shader.

mon 2005-may-30 19:56:31 pdt
posted by Toonhead!

Toonhead! Trivia Time: If you watch the DVD extras, you'll see Scott Johnston, artistic coordinator for the movie, and brother of fellow NPLer xyzzy.

thu 2005-sep-08 17:44:23 pdt
posted by Natalie

Did you find that the parody to the Cold War didnt come out as strong as you would have liked?

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