Morally flawed masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2002)

This is a great animated movie, certainly the best I have seen. The animation, a nearly seamless mix of traditional drawn cels with a 3D CG creature, is first rate. But what really shines is the story. The writing is sharp, and so are the voiced performances.
But I give Iron Giant an 8, rather than a 10, for two reasons.

First, beginning with the 'Bambi' scene, the last third of the movie is stained by typical Hollywood politically-correct bigotry. This was entirely unnecessary to the story. Why the film makers chose to deface their own creation this way is their business, but it angered me. Maybe they were betting that most viewers are too naive or too stupid to notice a little gratuitous hate-mongering. Maybe it was a condition of their getting funded by a big Hollywood studio. Maybe it was an element of the original book (which I have not read), but if so, it should have been changed to fit the rest of the movie, rather than being left in place to scar it.

Possible SPOILER follows...
Second, at the climax, there is a hole in the logic of the plot large enough to fly a phalanx of iron giants through. I refer to the way the giant chooses to deal with the [seriously anachronistic] missile warhead, given the capabilities he has demonstrated moments before. Are we supposed to believe that this earnest good-hearted giant has been miraculously transformed into a weepy-eyed Hollywood parlor pink? I don't think I can willingly suspend that much disbelief.
But enough complaints. Despite its flaws, this is a wonderful movie. 8/10.