The Iron Giant

Composite Score: 85.63

Starring: Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Anniston, Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney, and M. Emmet Walsh

Director: Brad Bird

Writers: Brad Bird and Tim McCanlies

Genres: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Family, Sci-Fi

MPAA Rating: PG for fantasy action violence, language, some thematic material, and smoking

Box Office: $23.34 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                The Iron Giant is Brad Bird’s film adaptation of Ted Hughes’s novel The Iron Man about a giant alien robot who crashes on Earth in the 1950s and is befriended by a boy who lives in Maine, named Hogarth. The film follows Hogarth as he attempts to hide the robot from his mother – to avoid getting in trouble – and from government agent Kent Mansley – to keep the robot safe. While in hiding, Hogarth introduces the robot to comics, ethics, and the concept of the soul, bringing out a sort of sentience in the large metal being, which is then challenged when he is inevitably discovered by the government. The film continues to be heralded as one of the best animated films ever made for its exploration of deep themes, real characters, and engaging story, all of which help it currently sit at 245th on IMDB’s list of top 250 films and 199th on Letterboxd’s.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                It’s hard to find areas where The Iron Giant truly struggles. Its humor hits the right notes, its emotional beats tug on the heartstrings, its characters are just exaggerated enough to still be believable, its animation feels equal parts ahead-of-its-time and timeless, and the story, while grounded in the Cold War, presents the audience with universally relatable ideas about humanity, morality, self-determination, and believing in others. The only gripe I could possibly think of is the film’s parallels to nuclear war, which don’t necessarily feel all that pressing in the 2020s (but never say never, right?). The xenophobia and fearmongering of Mansley feel all too familiar to a modern audience, but the target of his distrust and the origins of his fear might not, which does weaken that subplot the slightest bit.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                For all the above reasons and more, Brad Bird’s animated classic stands the test of time and remains one of the best animated films ever. The script is full of quotable one-liners and quality humor that lands for audiences of all ages, both visual and verbal. From the scene of the robot’s hand in the house with Hogarth praying over the food to the Mansley investigation that’s constantly interrupted by his laxative-induced breaks to the lovable dynamic between beatnik scrap artist Dean (Connick Jr.) and Hogarth as they struggle to keep the robot a secret, it keeps the audience giggling, chuckling, and occasionally even busting a gut from start to finish. Likewise, the emotional resonance of this film carries through, predominantly in the person of the robot. Vin Diesel gives voice to the constantly learning extra-terrestrial hunk of metal and, in the process, turns him into one of the most lovable characters in the history of animation. His fascination with Superman, his desire to live, his discovery of the soul all give credence to the film’s themes of self-determination and looking beyond someone’s exterior before judging them as dangerous or not. Finally, Bird’s recognizable animation style (in this case a 2-d/3-d hybrid that looks strikingly like a presupposition of his Incredibles animation) gives the film a feeling of timelessness, inviting you into a real period from history that, nevertheless, looks so set apart from anything else that it could be placed anywhere at any time and still be impactful.

                The many positive aspects of The Iron Giant – its comedy, resonance, themes, and animation – coalesce into a near-perfect animated film, worthy of a spot among the Greatest Films of All Time while also solidifying Brad Bird’s place among animation royalty. The film’s Cold War subthemes might be alienating for some of the most modern audiences, but the rest of the story speaks to so many universal truths that it’s impossible to knock the whole film. You can currently stream this film via Paramount+ or rent it on most other streaming services if you’d like to watch it in the near future.