Igor

As a fan of CG animation and cheesy horror, I was really looking forward to this one. It wasn't as good as I had hoped, and not nearly as good as it *could* have been, given the talent. But the premise was nicely original, and the actors put in some good performances. Steve Buscemi steals almost every scene he's in, and Eddie Izzard was really good. Jennifer Coolidge was another standout, as was Sean Hayes. I think Cusack made a very funny character, certainly more fun to watch than the Disney lead in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The animation style is very reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It was a nice break from the steady diet of comic book films and action films I've had this summer.

The nation of Malaria was once sunny and had a prosperous agricultural economy; then the weather changed. The sun never shines and it is always raining. The king decided on a rather different economy... the scientists of Malaria would invent evil devices and the world would pay for them not to be used. Of course every evil scientist needs a hunch-backed assistant named Igor.

Our story is centred on the Igor who works for the less than competent Doctor Glickenstein. This Igor dreams of becoming an evil scientist in his own right and has already has already has had some (secret) success having created Scamper, an immortal but suicidal rabbit and Brain, a talking brain in a jar. An incident leaves him free to try to come up with a truly evil creation for the upcoming Evil Science Fair. He creates a creature, later named Eve, much like a female version of the one created by Dr Frankenstein... there is just one problem; she isn't evil. Meanwhile Dr Schadenfreude is hoping to steal Eve and win himself.

I rather enjoyed this animation, it may not be up there with the works of Disney, Pixar or Ghibli but it is a lot of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously. Our protagonist, voiced by John Cusack, is a good lead and his sidekicks Scamper and Brain are rather fun. The story doesn't go anywhere too surprising but that isn't a problem; films aimed at younger viewers can't be too convoluted. There are some scares but these are all child-friendly and never last long. There are quite a few laughs to be had; most provided by the sidekicks. The character design is fun, although some viewers may wonder if one female character needs to show off so much cleavage! The voice cast, which includes several well-known actors with distinctive voices does a fine job bringing the characters to life. Overall I'd say that while this will never be considered a classic it is rather fun and well worth watching if you are an animation fan looking for something a little, but not too dark.

It's a shame that this little film did not receive the deserved acclaim. Anthony Leondis's 'Igor' may not tell a story that is completely original but it's a nice and fun adaptation of Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'. It has all the ingredients of an amusing adventurous animation film. The atmosphere and colour created by the vivacious animation draws the viewer and the colourful characters keep one involved. The actors that include Steve Buscemi, John Cusack, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes, John Cleese and Jennifer Coolidge, behind the voices of the characters do a remarkable job. Coolidge is particularly hilarious with her weirdly funny accent as Heidi. Writer Chris McKenna does a very good job in adapting the story and making it lighter in order for it to appeal to children as well. However, I must add that the film is targeted at the young adult audience than children because many of the jokes are for 'grown-ups'. That does not mean that children will have less fun. Even though McKenna has made some big changes from the original, the heart of the story pretty remains the same even though this one ends on a more positive note with a different message. However, perhaps as a result, the story sometimes lacked in depth and a few little things remained unexplored. Yet, this flaw is very minor and doesn't ruin 'Igor' from being wholesome family entertainment.

King Malbert (Jay Leno) rules the world of mad scientists with flashy clothes and dark storm clouds. As such, the mad scientists all clamor for the honor of winning the royally-sponsored "Science Fair". Each scientist has their own right arm, an Igor, with optional Lorre-esquire manner. When one scientist's efforts leave nothing but his actual right arm, however, his Igor (John Cusack) sees a chance at greatness, in activating his own monster. But is he too good to be evil? This one's a sleeper in every sense, which is kind of a good thing. Although it's a grand year for animation, with ambitious offerings from many studios, sometimes you look for something a little simpler. Igor excels at that. There are just a few things that keep it out of the "great" category, so let's point those out first. Technically, there are a few instances when the lip-sync is off, probably due to shuttling, as noted below. A noticeable number of the jokes (and a couple of songs) have the feel of being recycled from other animated films, which is never good. This being an animated comedy, that naturally hampers the story a bit. Although pop culture references (a recurring complaint on various message boards) are kept to a bare minimum, the ones used...well, grate on the nerves a bit.

The good parts: the film is beautiful to look at, in a "Tim Burton" fashion. The tight animation is well-serviced in digital; a feat in itself, since the credits reveal that this thing was literally made around the world. Visuals of the environment are consistently stunning. The stylized design does help to endear you to the characters, who themselves are a parade of great ideas, with voice talent that shows some thought. Examples include Igor's pals: the surly Scamper (Steve Buscemi), a reanimated roadkill rabbit, with the tire track to prove it, and Brian (Sean Hayes), a disembodied brain in a machine, named by way of dyslexia. There's also invisible talk show host Carl Cristall (voiced most appropriately by Arsenio Hall) and the villain's girlfriend, a shallow, multi-personality fashion plate called Jaclyn Heidi (well-voiced by Jennifer Coolidge). Even the James Lipton cameo is oddly appropriate.

So, in short, what works really works, and what doesn't really doesn't. It will likely be a welcome dollar peep once Halloween is closer.

I don't know why this movie doesn't get more positive recognition; I thought it was terrific, and I've seen most the feature-length animated films of the past several years. This holds it own against most of them.

For an animated film, it has exactly what you want: fantastic colors and colorful characters -most of them very funny and entertaining to view and hear - and a good story with some interesting twists to it. The artwork in this film is just amazing, especially on Blu-Ray. (I've discovered that's how to watch these new animated movies - in high-def, because most of them look awesome. This film certainly is no exception.) There were many times I just wanted the freeze-frame the picture and take in all the wild artwork. I might do that on a second viewing.

Also no surprise is Steve Buscemi, who always gets humorous roles in these animated films and makes everyone laugh. He usually plays a rat, too. I mentioned that to a friend and he said, "That's because he looks like one in real life." I wouldn't go that far, but I understand where he's coming from.

Actually, all the leading voices - Buscemi, John Cusack, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes, John Cleese, Jay Leno and more were all great. I'll give a special nod to the voice that cracked me up more than all the others, the one of "Hedi," done by Jennifer Coolidge. She was hilarious!

If you enjoy the famous Frankstein monster story, or wild characters in a monster-lab-type setting, you should enjoy this parody. It's an underrated film and looks super on DVD.