MPAA Rating: PG/Genre: Animated Sci-Fi/Voices of: Eli Marienthal, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, Christopher McDonald, John Mahoney, M. Emmet Walsh, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas/Runtime: 86 minutes

So, while I sat in my home office/personal studio/living room trying to figure out what movie to write about for you today dear reader, I found myself doing something that I usually don’t do. Namely deciding to read several film fan messenger boards. It was while I was on these sites that I found myself running into a belief that is tragically comes up way too often. That being that if a slice of cinema makes money, then that by default must mean that it was also a really good movie and definitely worth seeing. *sigh*. Yet, rather than make me engage in my usual response of taking some Tylenol and silently fuming/screaming into a pillow, I instead found myself surprisingly emboldened with the desire to prove this argument wrong for once. I mean call it experience due to how many slices of cinema I have seen both personally and professionally or just plain knowledge I have picked up in life dear reader, the fact is that whilst yes there are some movies that made a boat load of cash and ones that disappeared seemingly without a trace, there are also instances where a downright excruciatingly bad movie both made a lot of money and even spawned a franchise of movies just like it whilst a genuinely great and/or iconic slice of cinema can be completely and totally overlooked by the casual movie goer and therefore tragically lost in the scuffle for whatever reason or another. The reason I bring this up dear reader is because I am definitely convinced that the slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, 1999’s The Iron Giant, is a proud and prominent member of the second group. Indeed, here is a phenomenal film that scored extremely high marks with test screening crowds and was looked at by the industry as being one that could be home studio Warner Bros’ answer to released around the same time Disney gems like The Lion King. Tragically, this was not to be as its gifted helmer wanted it to be released sooner and the studio responded by either not doing anything with it or giving the film a marketing campaign that was nothing short of atrocious. As a result, the film tanked and it seemed destined to be one that existed only in the shadows. Fortunately for this film, it was released in the era where home video was still quite the fruitful enterprise and as a result something intriguing occurred. Namely that people located this slice of cinema, adored it, told people about it, loaned out their copy, and encouraged their friends to please return their copies after about a month-plus of waiting for it back. Or something to that effect. Be that as it may be, there is no denying that The Iron Giant is an absolutely phenomenal slice of cinema that, thanks to both a talented crew and an extremely well-chosen cast of players, is also one of the finest animated slices of cinema that a group of creative minds have seen fit to give us period.

The plot is as follows: Taking us all the way back to the late 1950s, this slice of cinema takes place in a locale known as Rockwell in the state of Maine, a locale that is so tranquil and beautiful that it easily could have been a town that either Norman Rockwall was inspired by or which would have made it on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post at one time. It is here that we are introduced to our main character who takes the form of a 9-year-old boy by the name of Hogarth. Hogarth, we quickly are able to learn, is a passionate pariah in his community due to having a passion for going on adventures or engaging in acts of benevolent childish capers be it his telling tall tales of extraterrestrial invasions or in secretly viewing the spooky sci-fi movies of the day (lovingly shown in black and white) on TV whilst his mom is working late. However, when his TV suddenly transitions from his program to the infamous static snow of ol’, we see the curious Hogarth decide to head up to his roof to investigate only to see that something has stripped the antenna right off the house. We soon see that, rather than just accept it and have his mom call the cable company the next day, Hogarth heads out into the woods to look into the matter further only to stumble into the cause of the antenna’s disappearance. A cause that takes the form of a giant steel robot who eats metal the way you or I might devour a delicious ice cream sundae. Yet when this “Iron Giant” gets caught in the power lines at the local electric company, we see that Hogarth takes compassion on this creature and saves its life. An act that this gray giant decides to reciprocate by becoming a guardian and friend to our main hero. Yet, despite Hogarth’s attempts to keep his new-found friend safe, we soon see that this proves to be for naught when a lanky, paranoid, and quite gung-ho member of the Feds by the name of Kurt Mansley arrives in town and, due in large part to McCarthyism being quite prevalent at this time, soon has the town thinking the giant is something sent by the Russians and is soon able to get a military squad assembled to help him annihilate it even though Hogarth and an amicable hipster-type in town by the name of Dean have both discovered the giant is very much a gentle giant unless provoked. Be that as it may be, we see that with the gung-ho Mansley as well as a military squad out to get this giant and “take care of him”, can Hogarth keep his tall metal friend safe or is this one confrontation that is about to end badly for everyone involved? That I will leave for you to discover for yourself dear reader….

Now I can’t lie to you dear reader: although the quality of the computer animation on display in this slice of cinema might to some of you resemble Speed Racer more so than old school Disney, it is still absolutely incredible to look at courtesy of not only the fact that the town in the film looks like something you would see on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post at some point, but also its gorgeous fall in Maine shades as well as the sly compare/contrast between the titular character and the flourishing green forest. Just as terrific as this slice of cinema’s appearance however is the way this film is able to blend together an emotional cocktail that sees this film play out at times like a bleak, tech-rooted take on something akin to the equally as iconic sci-fi masterpiece E.T. Sure, the giant may seem like a menace at first and yes his armaments which he does eventually showcase might be terrifying, but at his core this giant is one that is less a terrifying force to be reckoned with and more like an overcurious big kid. Yet perhaps the thing that really distinguishes this character is how this slice of cinema permits the bond the robot forms with Hogarth is able to show him (?) that he too has a soul. To be sure, the question of if the giant is a hero or just a really big weapon does push things a bit too close to political correctness for comfort, but the moral of we can choose to be whoever we want is still one that is vital for kids and older kids (or adults if you will) to be regaled with. Thankfully, lest you worry this film is just a humorless affair then you are definitely mistaken. Indeed, I say that because this slice of cinema is brilliantly full of a wry sense of humor which covers everything from the schlocky sci-fi films of the era all the way to Hogarth and his classmates viewing an upbeat educational movie called “Atomic Holocaust”. On top of that, this film also possesses a distinct X-Files style vibe at certain points that I have no doubt the older moviegoers amongst you will surely enjoy. Suffice it to say that the message the film is operating may be serious, but there is also a wonderful buoyancy to be found here as well. Finally, it should be noted here that this slice of cinema does keep us in the dark on certain things including the origins of the titular giant and I have no doubt this will most likely irritate a fair amount of you out there. With that said though, this is very much intentional on the part of the film since it seems to be telling us that what matters isn’t where something is from or how weird it may be. Rather, it’s the fact that if you look hard enough all things great and small have a beauty to them as well as a purpose. Suffice it to say that with that philosophy in mind, there is no denying that the work done by the teams behind the camera is no less than magic at its finest.

Of course, the other big component that is working in this slice of cinema’s favor is undoubtedly the truly fantastic cast of players who lend their vocal talents to this truly intriguing story. This starts with Eli Marienthal who is absolutely fantastic in the lead role of Hogarth. Indeed, as portrayed by Marienthal, Hogarth is a wonderfully realized three-dimensional character who also manages to showcase a wide variety of emotions as the story goes along from sadness at the loss of his dad and just wanting to fit in, happiness at being able to find a friend in the form of the titular giant, and even determination to keep his newfound pal safe from the slimy government agent in their midst who would love nothing more than to annihilate the being from existence. More than that, Marienthal also does a wonderful job of ensuring that Hogarth also acts as the soul of the film courtesy of helping his new friend realize he can be more than what his functions might suggest for him to be. Suffice it to say it is a terrific performance and one that I am genuinely sorry didn’t get a lot more notice at the time than it did. We also get a pair of really good performances from Jennifer Aniston and Harry Connick Jr. as Hogarth’s beleaguered yet loving mother and the town beatnik artist (read: hipster) Dean McCoppin who finds himself forming an attachment with both Hogarth and the Giant when the pair decide to use his metal junkyard for the Giant to hide out in respectively. A hero in a slice of cinema is only as good as the villain opposing them and this slice of cinema definitely delivers with a truly delightfully unscrupulous performance from Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley. Indeed, the character of Mansley is one that is supposed to operate as both a three-dimensional character who is the epitome of low-key slimy yet also a reflection of the paranoia and xenophobia that was very much present in the 50s. Suffice it to say that McDonald, who has been one of my favorite go-to actors for villainous or shady roles since (surprise) his performance in Happy Gilmore, delivers here and then some. We also get some truly wonderful work here from Vin Diesel as the titular character. Indeed he might not have that much in the way of dialogue, but Diesel’s deep and resonating voice makes every single bit of dialogue he is given count especially his last line which I promise will make you cry and then some. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in winning work from John Mahoney, Cloris Leachman, and M. Emmet Walsh respectively what you have is a truly terrific vocal cast who is spot on and then some.

All in all, there are excellent slices of cinema, there are great slices of cinema, there are good slices of cinema, but at the end of the day there is only one The Iron Giant and truthfully the world is all the better because of it. Indeed, here is a slice of cinema that manages to combine together the chilling paranoia yet also tight-knit sense of community that was present in 1950s small town America with the formula of a delightful sci-fi B movie from that very same era as well as the heartwarming story of a boy and his robot friend to conjure up a film that is equal parts riveting, action-packed, and yet also incredibly insightful. More than that, the work by the various departments behind the camera do an absolutely beautiful job at bringing the world of this film gorgeously and vividly to life, the vocal cast of players is nothing short of pitch perfect for their respective parts, and the titular robot made up of equal parts steel, nuts, bolts and heart is nothing short of a genuine achievement in the history of animated cinema that helps to distinguish this slice of cinema from other movies where Earth gets visited by a robot from some undetermined place in the cosmos arriving on our planet and helps us to become better people as a result (though in all fairness I don’t know of many that were or even are made with either the skill or heart that this one has in abundance with perhaps the original The Day The Earth Stood Still being one of the few exceptions). Even with that in mind, there is no denying that The Iron Giant is not just a great entry in the realm of animated cinema. Rather, it is no more and no less than a genuinely great slice of cinema period and truth be told I really don’t see that changing anytime soon or for that matter ever. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Iron Giant “99” a solid 4.5 out of 5.