The Iron Giant
1999  PG  ANIMATED  1h 27min
CAST— Jennifer Aniston, Eli Marienthal, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Christopher McDonald, James Gamon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, M. Emmet Walsh
MUSIC— Michael Kamen  DIRECTOR— Brad Bird  BASED ON— The Iron Man (novel), by Ted Hughes

     A slightly unusual blend of mature drama and kid-friendly adventure await a broad audience. An enormous piece of debris shoots out of the sky, landing in the gulf near a peaceful 1950s era Maine hamlet. What pops out of the waves is an enormous metallic robot, his tummy rumbling for anything metal. A young boy, given to wild stories and mischief, is the first to discover this Iron Giant, whom he pities, teaches to speak English, generally becomes best friends with. But when the feds hear rumors of an invasion from Mars they send an agent (a rather obsessed agent, at that) to investigate. Soon tanks are sent in, jets are doing fly-bys, and a devastating missile is armed and locked on the Giant. Not exactly a giggle-fest of a cartoon, what with the militaristic aspect and the possibility that the entire populace may be destroyed at any second. Kinda sounds like real life, don’t it? Extended version also available.
OUR RATING— ** ½