A treat for the whole family

Rating: 8/10 (5 February 2005)

What "le roi et l'oiseau" (Jacques PrÃ©vert and Paul Grimault,1977) did against tyranny,"the iron giant did it against wars.OKay ,the ending of the movie does not promise us the end of all wars on earth as in Ted Hughes ' book ,but the scenarists found excellent equivalents.They did not betray Hughes's spirit whose purpose was first pacifist:what's the use of building huge weapons when a dragon coming from outer space makes them useless?So you will find no monster in the movie:it's pure human evil;it's a human hand which pushes the button that will kill and destroy.
The part of Hogarth in the book is relatively minor.Hence the necessity to develop his character and to give him a personality.He's got only his mother (whereas in the book he had a whole family)and he's called Hughes of course.Hogarth is a wonderful little boy and he makes with the giant a team that will appeal to everybody.We also meet the scrap's owner and Kent who was made from start to finish by the scenarist with talent:a true villain,a coward,a deceitful man,all his scenes with Hogarth are great!Elements which happened at the very beginning of the story are deftly used in the film :the reconstruction of the robot for which the seagulls play a prominent part .
The pictures are often remarkable ,with nods to old sci-fi movies of the fifties .Hogarth in the hands of the giant recalls the young bird which the robot takes in "le roi et l'oiseau".
I will tell the children:if you 've seen the movie,read the book!if you've read the book,watch the movie!