The best animated film for all ages

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2014)

as a twenty-something year old man my favourite films include the likes of Reservoir Dogs, The Usual Suspects, Seven and I hope soon to see the Wolf of Wall Street. However, I have fond memories of my childhood, the days of Toy Story and Disney Classics. I say this to give context behind me stumbling upon The Iron Giant today on television. I partly remember really liking it as a child so I put it on in the background while I did some work, but within 5 minutes I was completely engrossed as this film is fantastic.
This film is about a giant metal robot that arrives on Earth in the 1950s for unknown reasons and a boy who finds him and befriends him. The two form a heart-warming bond as the child tries to protect his new friend from a paranoid government official. This is set against the backdrop of the cold war and the suspicion and fear that came with it. I wont spoil any more but this film is so emotional I'm not ashamed to admit I felt a few tears once or twice. The story is very simplistic yet it touches on a number of ongoing political issues, most importantly that just because we don't understand something, doesn't mean it's a threat.
Despite gong into these themes, the film never feel like it's preaching or talking down to the audience, and fortunately it came before the era when everything had to be very PC so don't expect anything like this film to be showing any time soon.
To sum up my short review, this film is a must-see even for those who don't like animated films, I don't usually watch them but this is definitely an exception. This is a film to watch with your family on a wet weekend day when you're in the mood for being cosy. I think children will enjoy the aforementioned giant metal robot but the film goes so much deeper than that, making it possibly the best animated family film I've ever seen.