Brilliant animated feature, easily one of the best animated films of the 1990's

Rating: 9/10 (14 August 2005)

The Iron Giant is one of the best animated films of the 1990's. It has everything you could ask for in a movie and it covers some great topics. It covers topics such as cold war tensions, childhood, and it even has an underlying message about anti violence and being yourself.
The story follows a gentle robotic giant who befriends a young boy. The giant has no recollection of his origin, or what he was designed for, but the young boy, Hogarth Hughes, tries to teach him about things, similar to how a parent teaches a little kid. At the same time, Hogarth also tries to hide the Giant and protect him from anyone who wants to destroy him. Unfortunately, not everything is well. A shady government agent is bent on trying to find the giant at all costs.
The animation is very colorful and very well drawn. The voice talents are all very good. What's interesting to me is how Vin Diesel, who later went on to be in action movies like Fast and the Furious and xXx, was the voice of The Iron Giant before all of that.
This movie has a great story, and there is a good message underneath it all.
Kids should definitely see this, and adults should too. Even though it looks like a kids movie, adults will be able to get something out of it and enjoy it as well.
Another thing this movie pulls off that many cartoons are unable to is to make you feel certain ways. When Hogarth and the giant are playing around and doing fun things, it puts you in a good mood. Later in the movie, when certain things happen to certain characters, you feel the way they feel.
Director Brad Bird later went on to make the excellent animated movie, The Incredibles. He has made some good movies, so I hope he can make even more good movies.
The Iron Giant is a brilliant animated movie, and as I said before, it has great animation and a great story, along with memorable characters, and a great underlying message. This is easily one of the best animated movies of the 1990's, and it has great elements. There is humor, but smart humor, not mindless fart jokes. There is never a dull moment, or a dumb moment. At certain points, there is action. Normally action at the end of a movie makes it that much more entertaining. It's very rare when you find a cartoon with all of these elements, and when everything works out perfectly. I recommend this for anyone, kids or adults, even teenagers.