The Iron Giant (1999)

 

Genre: Family/Adventure

Time: 1h 26mins

Director:  Brad Bird

Quick Summary: A boy befriends an innocent alien, who resembles a gigantic robot. A paranoid governmental agent, however, desires to obliterate the alien.

I was so surprised at how mature this is. Especially since it is a kid's film. It explores many complex themes and emotions all whilst being lighthearted and genuinely funny. All the characters are likeable in their own ways and feel fully fleshed out. 

A lesson that is incredibly important to kids is friendship, and it teaches this to them in a way that doesn't appear condescending or force it down their throats. And another one I liked is that was completely Anti-Gun and actually explained why you should be, even explaining it to kids without becoming scary or upsetting. It approaches these messages with maturity and that is amazing for a kid's movie.

I really enjoyed the humour in this, it was a nice balance of sophisticated and simple so that everyone can appreciate it.  It is full of innocent joy, like moments when Hogarth our main character is trying to teach the Iron Giant way of earth, and he approaches everything like a small child. One moment I enjoyed was when the Iron giant's piece was running around the house and Hogarth had to stop them from getting up the shenanigans. 

Visually, I wasn't much of a fan of the art style though the animation was beautiful and fluid so I didn't mind too much. And as far as action scenes, there aren't many. This film focuses more on the quieter moments to develop the relationship between our Main two and explore many themes, which I enjoyed but I feel like some kids may lose attention in between scenes. 

This film is incredibly good and teaches many things. Not many films do that now, and in ways this one did. More of a gentler film, but I really enjoyed it, and I do really recommend it.

9/10

"“Who cares what these creeps think of you? They don't make you what you are, you do. You are who you choose to be.”"

"I don't know. You're made of metal, but you have feelings, and you think about things, and that means you have a soul. And souls don't die.”

"I know you feel bad about the deer, but it's not your fault. Things die. That's part of life. It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die."