Film Review: The Iron Giant – An Animated Classic

Sometimes, the best or most memorable films are forgotten by most people. This can be a depressing fact, especially if the film is one everyone should experience, but there is a level of pride knowing you have seen a great movie most people don’t know about. A good example of a forgotten film that deserves more attention is the animated film, The Iron Giant (1999). Based of the book The Iron Man by Ted Hughes (no relation to the superhero of the same name), The Iron Giant was praised by critics when it was released, but it failed at the box office; the film only made $23 million against a $70 million budget. A part of the reason for the film’s failure was how poorly advertised The Iron Giant was; a trailer was not released until four months before the film premiered, and only one promotional poster was created. Luckily, as time goes on, more people discover this movie and give it the love it deserves.

The Iron Giant follows nine-year-old Hogarth Hughes (voiced by Eli Marienthal) who befrends a giant alien robot (voiced by Vin Diesel) known simply as “Giant”. Hogarth tries his best to hide the giant as government agent Kent Mansley (voiced by Christopher McDonald) searches for the giant himself. On the surface, The Iron Giant may sound like an ET knockoff, and while there are similarities between the two films, The Iron Giant makes the alien harder to hide, as the giant is 50 feet tall! While this may seem like a small change, there are two details about the giant that sets him miles apart from ET, but discussing those would be dwelling into spoiler territory.

The 2D animation in The Iron Giant is a visual example of eye candy. The film is well animated. Each character moves with energy and the CG animation is expertly intergraded. The giant is 50 feet tall, and the animation team does its best to make sure no one forgets it! The sense of scale is well realized in the movie, and when watching, the viewers believe the giant is truly 50 feet tall!

The Iron Giant is masterfully written; all the characters have unique personalities and the themes of the film are fully realized. The best character in the movie would have to be the giant himself. The giant has this innocence to him that makes his character charming and adorable. One of the most appealing aspects of the giant is the mystery; the audience is never told the giant’s origins or purpose. Clues are given, but nothing is confirmed. This mystery allows the audience to use their imagination to fill in the gaps left by The Iron Giant.

The movie also excels at emotions. The Iron Giant has brilliant comedic moments that’ll leave most in stitches. The movie also pulls the heart strings. There are many low points in the film, some of which will leave you pondering, and others in tears. There’s a powerful sequence in The Iron Giant where Hogarth explains death to the giant after they witness hunters kill a deer in the forest. This moment is exceptionally deep for a kids film as Hogarth tells the giant, “It’s not okay to kill, but it’s okay to die,” followed by Hogarth teaching the giant about souls. It’s one of the best scenes in The Iron Giant, as it shows how deep and thought provoking the film is.

The absolute best elements about The Iron Giant are the morals; the movie has a reoccurring themes: the space race, nuclear war, weapons, and Superman. The Iron Giant explores fear of the unknown, acceptance, but most importantly, the inspiring message, “You are what you choose to be.” Without spoiling the film, the giant was made to be one thing, but chooses to be something else, or more accurately, someone else: Superman!

And the ending… without giving it away, the ending is nothing short of perfect!

To conclude, The Iron Giant is an astonishing, well made animated film that deserves more attention. If ever had the opportunity to watch The Iron Giant, I highly recommend. It’ll be worth the watch! I give The Iron Giant a 10/10.