Know how I stated in a lot of my reviews that I am rarely a fan of child characters in film? Well Hogarth Hughes is the exception to that! Just because I am hardly a fan of kid characters does not mean they do not have potential, but I just don't like Hollywood likes to exploit the characters with obnoxious cuteness or give them adult personalities and habits that they think is funny. Both cliches are incredibly boring and thankfully Hogarth has none of those. Hogarth, is a real kid! He's curious, imaginative, short-tempered, loud, disobedient, energetic, kooky, and funny. The character is just so highly enjoyable and has a lot of great comedic scenes especially when working off the supporting cast. And also when the time comes for drama, he really sells it. The character just has a lot of charm to him and is just overdosed with charisma.
Hogarth's mom Annie you would think that she is not anything special, but her relationship with Hogarth is what makes her still interesting. I feel that it does represent a relationship between a single mother and her son and they get down the conversations and chemistry between the two to a tee.
Then there is Dean McCoppin, an artist/junkyard owner who befriends Hogarth and the giant and helps Hogarth keep the giant from the government's grasp. Not to say the other characters in the film are terrible, they are great too, but along with Hogarth, Dean is one of my favorite characters in the film. Like Hogarth, he as this charm and charisma that just glues your eyes to screen whenever he is on. His comedic moments are just great and have me laughing all the time whenever they happen. Harry Connick Jr.'s performance of course adds to the charm of the character and perfectly matches the appearance and personality of Dean. Unlike other celebrities who had done voice acting in an animated film where I can tell they are acting in a recording booth, I never got that with this character. The voice acting and animation perfectly match so well that whenever I hear Harry Connick Jr.'s voice in anything else besides this film, I immediately think of Dean. But what makes this character so great is that not only can he sell comedy, but he can be serious too and can sell drama decent enough too, and unexpectedly may I add due to most of his appearances have comedic moments. Dean is just an all-around fantastic character.
Then there's Kent Mansley who shares that same trait with Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained, can be entertainingly funny but can also succeed in being really threatening as well. Every scene that wants the character either to be funny or threatening as an antagonist works and hits every time. I also like this relationship he has with Hogarth and with the general with whom he constantly makes contact with. The relationship he has with Hogarth is this great strong rivalry and it works because of the two's very opposite feelings towards the giant. This is where Kent's comedic and threatening moments take action because the scenes in which he is sharing with Hogarth whether he is comedic or threatening sell successfully. The comedic scenes help the both of them work off of each other perfectly, exploiting their comedic talents. While the threatening scenes successfully exploit their rivalry and the differences they share. You can see why the two are enemies. Now Kent's relationship with the general is more of a comedic one and it is SO entertaining and his a perfect set off to the more threatening relationship he has with Hogarth. I always think one of the best comedy comes from people trying to act tough and intimidating to someone lower to them but it turns out they are totally vulnerable and weak when faced against someone more powerful, and it definitely shows here. Though the scenes with Kent and Hogarth can be funny, a lot of the times its threatening and Kent knows he can manipulate Hogarth simply because he is just a boy. But with the general, whenever the guy scolds and yells at Kent, he feels like a complete loser. This is especially funny when you have seen the scenes in which Kent is demanding then suddenly seeing him sulk and feeling like a total dweeb. It kills me every time, which makes Kent Mansley another entertaining character.
Finally we come to the the star, The Iron Giant itself, voiced by Vin Diesel. First off I love how the story doesn't just resort to a small cute alien creature with sort of an unoriginal design like ET. I like that they went all out by creating a grand being, a giant steel robot. As incredibly ambitious as it sounds by creating a 100 foot robot giant that is an alien, eats metal, shoots lasers, and flies to befriend a boy, they pay off with what they do with the character is more than worth the price of admission. Every characteristic that I mentioned before about the character is executed perfectly and the story knows when and how to show it off without shoving it in the audiences' faces. They know how grand they want to make the scale with the character that leads to creating a scope for the film as well as creating some creative twists and jokes. The scenes in which he has to find metal for food are nicely done as well as funny, and they pick the right time when it comes around for the giant to start flying and shooting its lasers What also makes this character have an interesting depth is the mystery behind it. What I mean is that you don't know whether its male or female, an adult, a child, or heck even an infant. All that is left to the curiosity of the audience and their questions about what it is or where it came from. Something thought provoking like that I think is very creative as well as very powerful, especially when you connect so much with this thing. Interesting trivia is that Vin Diesel was not the original choice for the voice of the giant, they actually wanted Peter Cullen to do the voice. Now Peter Cullen also voiced another famous giant alien robot who goes by the name of Optimus Prime. I could see their interest but I'm glad they chose Vin Diesel for the part. Hearing the voice of Optimus, especially out of another alien robot character would have been distracting, and I think Diesel's voice was a unique decision creatively wise.
The animation is greatly pleasing to look at. I cannot express how much I love, love, LOVE director Brad Bird's signature character designs! I think he is a very underrated animator director, because his character designs are so unique, so pleasing to look at, and so NEW that it is worthy to compete with the likes of Hayao Miyazaki or Disney. Actually used to work for Disney Animation and did direct The Incredibles and Ratatouille for Disney/Pixar. I like how these characters could look like real people but still have that dash of uniqueness that makes them look cartoonish with the ways the heads and bodies are shaped. I also like kind of the Norman Rockwell-esque design given to the backgrounds, settings, and even to some of the character design. I guess that's why the town the characters live in is called Rockwell. I always like looking at Norman Rockwell's work and touches of it really add to the wonderful atmosphere the film has. You can actually consider part of this film to be a love letter to his work.
What I love about the story of this film is that it takes an idea, that is probably millions of little boys' fantasies, and makes it as plausible as it can. It knows just what to deliver, when to deliver, and how to deliver with the giant. The film is another perfect example to why Brad Bird deserves a lot more credit than he deserves. I think he is sort of the Quentin Tarantino of animation, now hear me out, and the reason I say this is because he is the underdog of animation and makes animated films that can be considered not much the critic's or film enthusiasts' choice but the people's choice. Unlike Tarantino where his films seem to hit for many and have their glory stay and lasts forever, for some reason the films by Bird either get no recognition or have their time of big recognition then it quickly fades away. Though he does have two Oscars, I think the guy should be given more work because I do want to see more of his stuff animation wise, I think he has potential to be a legend alongside people like Walt Disney, Don Bluth, or even Hayao Miyazaki. And a lot of Brad Bird's filmmaking talents definitely shine in this film. He knows how design characters, he knows how to flesh them out and make them wildly entertaining, he knows how to develop a good story revolving these characters, he knows how to deliver setting and atmosphere, and he knows how to mix good comedy with good drama as well, and all doing it in the medium of wonderful animation. Bird delivered is talents into Iron Giant and Iron Giant delivered its greatness. If you haven't seen it, rent it, buy it, add it to your Netflix que, because I think this one of the best animated films ever made as well as one of my favorite films ever. Trust me, you definitely won't be disappointed with this grand masterpiece!
GRADE: E
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P.S. DOESN'T KENT MANSLEY LOOK EXTREMELY LIKE CONAN O'BRIEN?
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