All men aren’t created evil
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Well, well, well. Just when I was about to give up on animated movies, someone pulled the switch and threw this gem in the mix! Alright, you know that’s an outright lie. The truth is I doubt I will ever be able to give up on animated movies as long as people keep making little beauties like Igor. Unfortunately this film hasn’t been promoted well and, given it’s dark nature, is screening in limited release despite appealing to kiddies and adults alike. John Cusack voices the main character of Igor in this animated fable about a cliché hunchbacked evil scientist's assistant who aspires to become a scientist himself, much to the displeasure of the rest of the evil science community. Molly Shannon, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Coolidge, Jay Leno, Eddie Izzard and Christian Slater also lend their voices to make up the rest of the characters. Written by Chris McKenna, one of the writers of American Dad, Igor is hilarious, witty and dark in a way similar to Tim Burton classics such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. The animation isn’t as beautiful as a Tim Burton film but it’s still great to look at. I’d go as far to say this is too dark for kiddies and most of the jokes will go straight over their head. It’s brilliant none the less and by the end of it I was left wondering how I could have so many favourite parts. Steve Buscemi is perfect as Scamper, a suicidal bunny invented by Igor and his attempts to kill himself (despite being indestructible) are a hilarious running joke throughout the film. He also has the best lines along with fellow side kick Brain.
There are so many genre jokes and inside puns on the monster film you’re barely given a second to recover before you’re hit with the next line. Politically incorrect in too many ways to count but cinematically correct in sheer entertainment value. This is an intelligent animated film somewhere between the sheer brilliance of Wall E and side splitting humour of Madagacar 2: Escape to Africa. I would go as far to say this is the best animated film I’ve seen since The Incredibles. A lot of the credit has to go to director Anthony Leondis who started out as a writer and animator with Disney and has now moved on to directing as well. He also voices a minor character in the film. In conclusion, how can you NOT love a movie that closes with 20 blind orphans singing the Johnny Nash classic “I can see clearly now” on stage? Answer: you can’t. Igor is at selected cinemas now but be quick before they chuck it on DVD, given the dark quirky nature of this film I doubt that will take long. SEE THIS!
Watch Igor trailer here.
