Sublime animation with strong message on violence

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2009)

Lonely kid Hogarth Hughes (Marienthal) discovers a giant metal man which soon becomes the friend he as always wanted whilst a government agent seeks to destroy it.
The Iron Giant brings together a sentimental story of a young lad with no friends but a vivid imagination and when The Giant comes down and the two share their first meeting, humour and sentimental emotions are flying around to make a wonderful film that is as sharp as many Disney pictures and is the first full length animation for the then relatively unknown Brad Bird.
Bird would of course go on to win 2 Oscars (and possibly more) with so far The Incredibles and Ratatouille that had a subtle blend of humour and family magic, and this is where Bird began his magic in the animation industry.
Based on Ted Hughes' book, The Iron Giant is scripted with an imaginative realism. It is designed around a lonely boy who unfortunately causes trouble with every pet he owns and his mother comes down hard on him when he tries to express his repressed feelings.
Hogarth is a cheeky character that generates plenty good comedy in this picture. His imaginative nature makes you wish you were young whilst his enthusiasm at tackling exciting new opportunities, such as jumping in a freezing lake and going on his own adventures brings that accurate youthful mind that is scripted so exquisitely you will be flashing back to your own childhood.
Like all Disney pictures, this Bird film has a strong message to portray to the younger generations. Lion King was the circle of life; Monsters Inc was child security whilst Robin Hood looked at the rich and the poor. Iron Giant has perhaps one of the strongest natured meanings at looking at life and death since Bambi. When The Giant is targeted he is triggered with a defence mechanism whilst Hogarth preaches to him about violence. It is powerful stuff that is all relative to the development of the young mind as this script looks to develop itself by looking at how to use violence and the context in which it is appropriate and when it is not. It is quite strong stuff, even for perhaps an older audience. When the Giant encounters the deer and the aftermath is very shocking. This by all means portrays the hard aspects of real life, blended with a sharp intake of science fiction.
The means by which The Giant communicates and discovers the world's systems shows the contrasts with our world and the outer realms. The scope of technology the Giant brings is vastly different and we see a shocking look at other worldly technology versus the U.S Governments.
The picture has its drawbacks. The humour is by no means on par with Pixar being awkwardly crude and in bad context.
But significantly the rightful message is portrayed and it is a wonderfully made picture