I Should've Listened To My Nephew...

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2007)

Back in 1999, when "The Iron Giant" was first released, several friends of mine, aware of my love for 1950s sci-fi films, urged me to go see this movie. For some reason, I passed. A few years later, another friend's 4-year-old son told me what a great video this was, but I still declined to watch it. And even later, when my own nephew (then 6) told me what a hilarious scene he'd just witnessed in "The Iron Giant" (the one in which young Hogarth drinks espresso and starts talking a mile a minute)...well, even then, I still ignored the advice. Anyway, all the above folk will be happy to hear that I finally DID watch this animated sci-fi film last night, and found it absolutely charming. Featuring wonderful animation, nice touches of warmth and humor, and wry commentary on '50s paranoia and A-bomb lunacy, the film really does have appeal to young and old. Lovers of sci-fi and/or action films should especially enjoy the film's latter scenes, in which the lovable Giant gets ticked off and morphs into an unstoppable killing machine. My hat is certainly off to everyone involved in the making of this most entertaining film. And this "special edition" DVD, filled with more extras than you can imagine, certainly does live up to the advertising. Hmmm...maybe I SHOULD take my nephew's advice and finally rent out his favorite movie, "Toy Story 2"...