FATHER GEEK here, our resident sky watcher COPERNICUS has filed the following story here at Geek World Headquarters. The powers that be crashed his computer last night so its a little late, but important none the less...
Iron Giant is simply a work of creative genius. Hats off to Brad Bird and the whole team behind one of the best movies of the decade, and maybe the best animated movie ever. I had the amazing luck of being in LA when Harry was there earlier this summer and we were able to catch a screening of the movie in rough form (this was not sanctioned by Warners, it was a secret thing orchestrated by the evil genius, Moriarty). Even though many scenes were still in pencil, the music was temporary, and the sound wasn't complete, you could tell that this was such a great story told from the heart that they could leave the entire movie in pencil and people would still flock to see it.
Recently a pathetic online magazine made a laughable attempt at drumming up controversey by claiming that the reviews on AICN for The Blair Witch Project and Iron Giant were just too good to have been genuine. They accused the makers of these films of planting the rave reviews. These people are so cynical that the only way they can imagine people loving something so fully is if they are paid to do it. The truth isn't as sexy as a conspiracy, but it really makes me excited - these movies have people going crazy about them because they are genuinely great movies.
The reason I have become a cheerleader for The Iron Giant and BWP is that they are a pair of underdog movies that are much, much better than they have any right to be. The reason is that they are the fulfillment of creative visions. Dreams come to life. In each case, moviemakers stepped up and told a story they wanted told in the face of adversity. BWP had no funding. Iron Giant had about a third of the budget that a Disney animated feature would have, and the only thing most people outside the AICN community have seen are the less than successful trailers and TV ads. One of the reasons these movies have faced an uphill battle is that they aren't based on a formula. They aren't safe. They take risks to tell a story and they take us to new places as a result. That, to me, is far more rewarding than five hundred star vehicles.
These movies aren't carbon copies. The usual studio response is "Hey, horror is hot. Make a few more teen slasher movies! Cartoons always make money. Throw together a misunderstood kid, a dastardly villain, some songs, and some sidekicks!" But in BWP we got something entirely different. And in IG we have a fresh piece of animation that was made to tell a story, not to sell happy meals. I think these two movies will make more of an impact on the movie industry than The Phantom Menace did because they break the mold. With BWP, suddenly cheaply made movies become viable. Horror-verite will become a trend. With Iron Giant, animation has been freed from the shackles of sidekicks and songs and pandering to kids. Let freedom ring, my brother!
At the core of Iron Giant is its refusal to be a typical cartoon. It refuses to boil the world down to simple charicatures. Instead, the world is a lot like the symbol on the back of Dean's jacket in the movie, yin and yang. Even in the good there there is evil and in evil there is good.
Yes we have the dastardly villain, but we get to see a little of his motivation for being that way. He isn't evil for the sake of being evil, he's merely a normal person that has become obsessed, and lost sight of the big picture. This is what causes people to do bad things in real life. There is no moustache twirling, or witchlike cackling going on here. His name is Kent for Christ sakes! This guy is all too real, and he is hillarious. There are some great scenes between this guy and Hogarth. When's the last time you saw a villian in a cartoon do anything but set up a diabolical plan and gloat at the hero's predicament?
And he isn't even the best character! There is a beatnik, Dean, but not your stereotypical there-for-comic relief type. This dude is a fully realized character who thinks, and acts like a real person. And he has a motorcycle and super-cool yin-yang smoking jacket! I want an action figure!
And he isn't even the best character! Hogarth is the perfect kid for any era. Who as a kid didn't dream of spaceships and science fiction? Or having powers like Superman? Or having a robot pal? The coolest thing is that Hogarth's dreams come true! He's like a kid in a candy store. No, he's like a kid with a giant robot friend! Just seeing his glee and the interaction between him and the giant is pure magic. Like all adventuresome kids, his curiosity gets him into all kinds of predicaments that he can't always get himself out of. I love that. This move doesn't fall into the cliche of the adults that won't listen, so the kid has to save the day. Hogarth does realize a lot of things that the adults don't, but he's still a kid. He needs adults and they need him.
And he isn't even the best character! The Iron Giant is. I believe the Iron Giant is the most endearing, dynamic, awe inspiring robot ever to see the big screen. He's in some grand company - R2D2, C-3PO, Robby, the Lost in Space Robot... but the Iron Giant is more human than them all. He's a lot like Frankenstein's monster if he had even more humanity and came from outer space! He says more with a cock of the head and a look in his eye than five pages of dialogue could convey. What a wonderful job by the animators. And his voice is equally stunning. Every time he opened his mouth I had either tears in my eyes or a huge grin on my face. That kind of magic is what going to the movies is all about.
And that's what this move is when you get right down to it - magic. This movie is more than the sum of its parts. Like BWP, taken a whole this movie resonates with something inside you. That is why I forgive WB for having a difficult time advertising the movie. The magic of this movie comes in seeing it in its entirety - you can't get the same feeling from watching one or two scenes out of context. Plus, there is a huge plot point they can't give away.
You may or may not be caught under the spell of The Blair Witch Project or Iron Giant. But I think we can all agree on one thing. Despite tough odds, the filmmakers behind these projects didn't keep things conservative and take the easy road. They rolled the dice and went for it. They put their heart and soul into the movies and it shows. This was clear to us in the unfinished versions and it it obvious in the final forms. When movies made with such passion connect they are wonderful things. They help your imagination soar, and that is something so cool that it can't be measured.
COPERNICUS, the sky watcher
