A childhood favorite that holds up incredibly well on re-watch. Now, don't judge me, but I'm going to repurpose a portion of my recent review of _The Princess Bride_, because it is equally relevant here (just the first paragraph below).

Before we started the movie, I was surprised to see its length: less than 90 minutes! I was incredulous. How could the countless incredible scenes that I remember from my childhood be packed into such a small package. I soon found out the answer. The entire movie is just those incredible scenes. There is no filler. It cuts from one highlight to the next without a superfluous scene, dangling plot thread, or wasted line of dialogue in the entire film. It puts on a clinic in terms of efficiency of storytelling and other than one character doing an unnaturally rapid double 180 toward the end ([spoiler]When Dean goes from okay with Giant, to scared of Giant, to okay with Giant in a matter of 15 seconds, which just so happens to correspond with an equally rapid weather change for cinematic snowfall. Notably, even this sequence was barely a hiccup[/spoiler]), the pacing never feels like a problem. It just feels like masterful writing.

Beyond the writing, you've also got top tier voice acting with memorable deliveries of quotable lines in virtually every scene (or at least me and my siblings quote them, e.g. anytime one of us is looking for attention the default response is an unenthused "we're watching, we're watching" in the style of Dean on his lawn chair at the lake). The film also manages to be something that kids can enjoy, while not feeling like it was made for kids, which is a difficult balance. All in all, a ridiculously impressive film. It's got humor. It's got heart. And it's got Vin Diesel.

As a final positive, the last 15 minutes were pure joy for my 8-year old self. What other animated kids movie has well directed military action sequences with jeeps, tanks, jets, aircraft carriers, and nuclear submarines!

To put it bluntly, "The Iron Giant" is one of the most criminally overrated movies of all time. If you're expecting a beautifully animated film, you're going to be disappointed. It's choppy and unfinished with the occasional smooth movement/shot at best. If you're looking for a heartwarming story about a boy and his robot, you're also going to be disappointed. You're going to feel more watching the live action "Bumblebee" movie. If you're a liberal? Well, you're going to love it. Why?

Because it's a perfect example of anti-authority, anti-military, and anti-gun sentiment being repackaged into a movie meant for children. If you're one of the idiots who think defunding the police and the military are good ideas, this is your film, because seriously - this show doesn't humanize anyone who's part of either group. Why would it? It has a simple message and it's one that's been spread for decades on end. The real meaning of this movie is that

Guns.

Are.

B A D.

Guns KILL.

I kid you not, these are lines in the movie. I'll applaud it for trying to be profound, but when you make an entire movie based on an agenda, it shows, especially in a kid's cartoon. The message is about as subtle as an elephant that's been painted purple. There's no exaggeration when I say the movie literally teaches kids that the military is incompetent and that fire weapons only harm people and kill things, which is b a d.

Literal propaganda.

"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."

"Souls don't die."

The smartest animated movie ever crafted and blessed onto movie-goers. Brad Bird delivers the magnum opus of his career and he hasn't topped it since. He blew his creative load out into his first feature and it really shows. The meaning of life, the uselessness of war, death, fear-mongering, and parting of a loved one are all topics tackled wonderfully in this seemingly "made for kids" movie. Who knew a movie like this would be able to talk about 50's war propaganda in such a revealing and hard-hitting way that most movies wish they could dream of doing?

But on top of it's extremely mature themes, it's a fun adventure comedy movie for people of any age. Hogarth Hughes is an instantly lovable boy who just wants a friend, and eventually gets one who happens to be a 50-foot giant robot. Dean McCoppin is a junkyard owner who gave us one of the best memes on the internet, and Kent Mansley manages to deliver some amazing gags in-between his war-mongering freakout moments.

I love the setting the concept artists chose. The 50's look isn't just for aesthetic, as it does serve the time period to hit home the anti-war message, but it's just as fun to look at as ever. The Duck-And-Cover nuclear bomb classroom video, the classic diner with all the waitresses in dresses, the cheesy black-and-white horror movies playing late at night, etc. etc. It's such a fun movie to look at, just for the time period it's set in.

The Giant, I don't even need to elaborate on. Everyone's already written 20 page essays on why he's the greatest silent character ever animated, but I'll just repeat it in a sentence. You cry for a giant metal robot who only says a few words the whole movie.

It's a brilliantly crafted and gorgeous movie that actually manages to make adults cry at 2D drawings. The best written and animated movie ever made.

You are who you choose to be.

It's the 1950s and young Hogarth Hughes happens upon a visitor from space ..... in the form of a giant iron man.

Delightful animation adaptation of Ted Hughes' much beloved 1968 novel "The Iron Man". Set during the period of time when Cold War and sci-fi paranoia was prevalent, The Iron Giant embraces these themes and stokes them with lessons of friendship, hatred, death and pertinent reminders of pacifism. Directed by Brad Bird and scripted by Tim McCanilies and Andy Brent Forrester, The Iron Giant is one of those rare animation animals that delights the kids as much as it does the watching adults. Though the actual giant himself, with all his dazzling weaponry, is the star attraction on show, it's the iron colossus' inner conflict that gives the film its heart. Aided by his friend, young Hogarth, good old iron decides he doesn't want to be a big weapon, but the authorities, as is nearly always the way, just can't let it be. The unflinching attitude that ran through many of the 50s sci-fi schlockers was one of being "because we don't understand it, lets destroy it" is something that Ted Hughes and the film makers here capture perfectly. Sophisticated and intelligent in its approach and delivery, this is definitely one of the better animated film's from the modern age. 9/10

Voice work comes from Jennifer Anniston, Harry Connick Jr, Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Christopher McDonald, M. Emmet Walsh and Eli Marienthal.