Le Géant de fer

"The Iron Giant" is the kind of animated film you wish there was more of. It respects the audience's intelligence, it has genuine emotion without resorting to schmaltz, and best of all it balances fantasy (well, science fiction) with believability. I think Warner Brothers animation has out-Disneyed Disney by adding thoughtful writing to clean, understated animation. What a concept!

The story is deceptively simple: Iron Giant falls from the sky at the dawn of the Space Race and befriends a young boy. But within that framework we get a double story, one for the grown ups and one for the kids, but the message is essentially the same one: paranoia and violence begets violence. I appreciate very much, as others who have commented, that no one burst into incongruous song and that there were no cutesy animal sidekicks. I should add that there were no clever yet implausible plot twists, nor were there any stock characters. The bad guy gets a little overheated, true, but he is never the embodiment of all things evil. The townspeople are your average small town Americans, not bumpkins. Mom is, well, mom-ish, caring but neither shrewish nor prone to whimpering outbursts. And our hero is plucky but not annoyingly precocious.

A BIG plus for this film is how well it weds the computer animation to the hand-drawn animation, a feat that the Big Mouse hasn't mastered yet. Even as recently as "Tarzan" it is glaringly apparent what parts are computer graphics and which aren't, and the contrast is very distracting. "The Iron Giant" makes a virtue of streamlined animation that draws your eye to the beauty of its color and motion.

It was a very VERY distinct and unusual pleasure to be treated to a film such as this. Give us more . . . please!

After seeing this movie, I was overcome by a strange feeling. I realized that I had found a treasure where I had least expected it. The Iron Giant is intelligent, funny, touching, and visually superb, and should show the world that an animated movie does not need to be A) computer-animated, or B) based on a fairy tale to be successful. One of the best American-made children's movies I have seen in a decade: 8.5/10.0

Now, I'm a 17-year-old who is slowly transitioning into the domain of movie buffdom, which basically means that I am watching a stream of movies based on recommendations from friends, critics, and the IMDb Top 250 list. I got this one almost by accident after the local rental place could not find the movie I was really after, choosing it basically on the knowledge that it was the previous project of Brad Bird, director of The Incredibles (a personal favorite). After watching it, I felt like calling up every mother I knew and telling her to have her children (and herself) watch this.

The Iron Giant revolves around an adventurous young boy in 1950s small-town America who discovers a gigantic robot out in the woods that has arrived on Earth from goodness-knows-where. He befriends the robot, while trying to keep him safe from a nosy government agent. The story seldom lags, with a series of comical adventures connected by the boy's growing relationship with his friend.

This movie is very appealing as entertainment. The voices are well-done, and the scenery is also terrific. Most importantly, though, is the animation, which is a bright spot from this time period. The characters are well-drawn, especially the Giant, who through terrific design, lifelike movements, and clever small touches (i.e., the eyes) seems both alien and human, imposing and childlike. Furthermore, the animation is comical. I don't know when I have ever seen slapstick or punchlines so well-complimented by the animation. The script, written by Bird and based off the book The Iron Man, is also very well done. Though the movie relies upon a few minor crutches common to children's movies, it is still very original and clever.

One thing that I must point out about this movie is its morals. Throughout the movie, the main moral of the story, about the Iron Giant learning and choosing to be good, is actually fairly adroitly handled. At no point when the subject comes up, including standard sentimental climax, does the idea seem contrived. Throughout the movie, evidence of Bird's influence by comic books is quite evident, and his ultimate message about heroes (variations of which will resurface in The Incredibles) is relevant and sincere. However, I do have to say that the secondary moral, about the evils of xenophobia and paranoia, both of which are embodied by the movie's antagonist, the government agent and the military, are very politically charged. While this may sound initially controversial and politically charged for a kids' movie (the second of which I do not deny), I noticed that it was in large part a thoughtful spoof of Cold War America, with jokes as well as valuable lessons about "duck and cover" and 1950s nuclear edginess that I found very clever.

On a final note, I do have to point out that this movie had me laughing hard, but more importantly, it brought me closer to tears than any animated movie I can remember (including Bambi), closer than I like to admit. I wish that I had discovered it sooner, and I hope that everyone gets the chance to experience it the way I did.

All too often, "family films" are only infantile, simplistic formulas with a few self-referential and pop-culture jokes thrown in to try and keep adults awake. But then along comes something like "The Iron Giant", which is sophisticated enough to demand respect while maintaining a mythic and pure-hearted tone that actually does appeal to the kid in everybody.

"The Iron Giant" is refreshingly non-Disney in no end of ways. Characters seem real and chosen to fit the story, instead of being a superficial reshuffling of an old formula. The animation definitely has its eye-popping moments, but there are also scenes of great wonderment, pathos, and humour that only top-drawer animation can convey. The Giant itself is a great character, who only becomes MORE interesting as the film continues (another huge break from Disney). No scene is wasted in this film, either; every set piece, even the really funny ones, helps either to establish the "world" of the movie, or to advance the plot. At no time do you feel that you are merely waiting for the story to crank up again.

"The Iron Giant" is funny, exhilarating, and touching as well. It's sad to see it failing at the box office, as a blunt reminder that the success of films is often in direct proportion to their publicity budget. Hopefully, though, word-of-mouth will come to its rescue. Go see it! Tell your friends! Then go again! (Repeat as necessary.)

P.S. I find myself comparing the Iron Giant character to Martin Donovan's character in "Amateur". If there is anyone else on earth who has seen both films you may wish to entertain the notion yourself.

What a GREAT movie! Not just for kids, but adults as well. Kids will love it on one level, and adults will love it on another level. Even adults who are not parents will love it!

There's humor, there's action, there's nostalgia, there's the perfect capture of being a child, there are positive messages (be yourself, don't kill, etc.), there's satire, there are adults who are not stupid and not comic relief....there's GREAT WRITING!

AND NO SONG AND DANCE NUMBERS! Also, there are NO COMIC-RELIEF ANIMAL SIDEKICKS! Take that, Disney!

I know some people might be resisting this movie, because it looks like it's aimed for kids - and they might be expecting a Disney clone (and we all know the bad results of Disney wannabes).....but TRUST ME. Give this movie a chance - you'll love it!

Is there ANYTHING wrong with it? Well, the only thing that bugged me (just a little) were some close-ups of the characters - these certain close-ups had a "sketchy" look a la the movies "We're Back!" and "Balto".

Fortunately, there's very little of this. Other than that - this is a PERFECT MOVIE!

The Iron Giant is a critically acclaimed piece of animated cinema. I wasn't expecting it to be that good, but The Iron Giant was an amazing movie, it is easily the most exquisite animated movie I have ever seen.

Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marenthal) is obsessed by the opportunites offered by science fiction, the possibility of an alien take-over or, at the very least, an attack from outer space. The original story, which the late Poet Laureate had set in England, saw the innocent Titan of the title emerge from the sea; here he is a visitor from another galaxy.

The Iron Giant is an amazing piece of animation, the voice-overs were done perfectly, the actors obviously enjoyed themselves, the animated art direction and cinematography was beautiful and the giant itself is just...breathtaking.

The Iron Giant is not just another silly little kiddies movie, it is perfection in filmmaking. Please, for the love of God, make your life better and see this brilliant film.

I rate The Iron Giant 10 out of 10.