The Iron Giant Reviews

Simply wonderful. This animated reworking of the beloved 1968 book The Iron Man, by England's late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes's, is a rare adaptation that actually improves upon the original material: It's everything a good children's adventure tale should be, and a powerful fable for adults. Set amid the jittery, duck-and-cover paranoia of the Cold War years, the story opens as an unidentified flying something whizzes past Sputnik and splashes down off the coast of tiny Rockwell, ME. Out of the sea comes a 50-foot Goliath with high-beam headlights for eyes and an insatiable appetite for metal. Roaming the pine forests around Rockwell, the robot happens upon the home of nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (voiced by Eli Marienthal) who, unbeknownst to his mother (Jennifer Aniston), befriends the metal giant. Hogarth, a fan of sci-fi flicks and "Red Menace" comics, knows how frightened citizens react to giant space creatures, so he hides his newfound friend, first in the family barn, then at the junkyard operated by town beatnik Dean (Harry Connick Jr.). Before long, the government gets wind of the robot's arrival, and sends square-jawed agent Kent Mansley (Christopher McDonald) to investigate and destroy the creature, if necessary. In the meantime, the iron giant learns about friendship, cruelty, death and the immortality of soul. Director Brad Bird and his animators forgo the exhausting, non-stop-action Disney formula, opting for a hipper, simpler style, richly colored with burnt, autumnal hues and reminiscent of classic comic book covers and poster art of the '50s. But the film's real beauty lies in Bird and Tim McCanlies' thoughtful script, which teaches with humor and compassion that guns kill, and each of us is, ultimately, who and what we choose to be. Those are important lessons for children, and valuable reminders for adults.