What seems big and evil may not be (SPOILERS)

Rating: Null/10 (2 December 2002)

This movie is set in an era when the Soviet Union was seen as the evil empire, the greatest threat to our way of life. But at the same time, our government's efforts to stop communism made it an enemy to anyone who seemed the least bit sympathetic to the Soviets or other horrible outside forces. In fact, we now know the Russians were probably no more evil than we were. And that was the case with the alien monster who landed in this world, in a small coastal community. People saw the UFO, and it was reported to the feds. The government sent a bumbling agent with all the personality of a Las Vegas lounge singer, who could comically fake sincerity and a helpful attitude, or sternly remind uncooperative adversaries just who they were dealing with. The one witness who actually saw the monster, a young boy, saved the monster as it tried to eat electrical transmission towers and a substation. He did something a child should never do: walked into the substation and turned off the power. From there he and the monster became friends, and he received help from a beatnik junk dealer/artist who also became a potential romantic interest for the boy's single mother. Naturally, the boy has a hard time convincing people that what he saw was real, and when the federal agent shows up, he tries to cover up what he knows. It's a nice story with lots of trivia that requires paying close attention, and the animation is incredibly detailed. Spoilers follow: The townspeople want to destroy the monster once they find out about him, and when conventional weapons do not work, the military tries a nuclear solution. In this way, the movie parallels our real experience with the Russians: if we used a nuclear weapon, we could end up destroying ourselves. To their horror, the townspeople learned that by killing the monster, they would kill themselves and do away with their town. It would have been too late, except for one final heroic act by the monster. MAJOR SPOILER: Or was it the monster's final act? Despite the bomb's being nuclear, we see a hint early in the movie of just how there could be a truly happy ending.