THE IRON GIANT (U)
Directed by Brad Bird

Reviewed by Malcolm E. Wright

Set in a fifties mileaux, a time of atom bomb rehearsals, flying saucers and Sputnik, this animated film is both charming and funny. A meteor lands in the sea off the coast of the small US town of Rockwell (shades of Roswell here). The giant metal man subsequently emerges from the sea and starts munching away at everything made of metal. When he starts eating a power station, young Hogarth manages to save his life by switching off the power, and thus their friendship is born. The boy has to keep the Iron Giant out of sight because of the unwelcome attention of the authorities that news of the metal monster would attract. Unfortunately the authorities are onto him, in the person of Mr Mansly. The robot eats his car, but he has a hard time convincing the army general of it. The robot is self-repairing, which is the cause of some funny scenes, with different parts of the robot seeking each other out when they become dislocated in a train crash (caused by the giant eating a railway line).

One of the funniest scenes is when Hogarth says grace at dinner time while watching the giant’s hand go by the doorway behind his mum’s back. Then Mr Mansly calls, and Hogarth has to hide the giant in the barn. The boy befriends an artist called Dean who lives in a scrap metal yard, where he uses the metal to make his sculptures. Dean is the only person who will believe in the Iron Giant without wanting to turn him in. They hide the giant there, where he snacks on old cars and such and Hogarth and the Giant have lots of fun.

Mansly discovers the boy’s camera in the woods. He develops the film and finds the documentary evidence he needs to convince the army. Meanwhile the Giant learns that living things are not self-repairing and that guns can make them dead when two hunters shoot a deer. This stirs a memory of the purpose for which he was built. Eventually the army does turn up and it nearly ends in tragedy for everyone as the Giant realises his military capability. He was, one presumes, built by some alien civilisation, as a defensive weapon that responds unthinkingly to physical threat. There’s a message in here for those that care to find it, for it’s not laid on thick. The film ends on a positive note, which I will not reveal here. I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.

Based on the book The Iron Man by Ted Hughes, the recently-deceased Poet Laureate, if anything the storyline for this film is an improvement on the original, which was loosely and illogically plotted, somewhat in the mould of Roald Dahl’s fantasies, though pre-dating them by a decade or so. I’m tempted to wonder if there will be a sequel based on Ted Hughes’ other book The Iron Woman. I wouldn’t mind.

Available on video.

posted 30/10/2000