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Released 17th October 2008
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Would you rather be curling up in a cosy cinema, with your favourite niece or nephew and a giant bag of sweet popcorn, than rattling your heart with a thriller made to make you question the dark walk home? Yes? Then Igor (”Eee-gor”), a wonderfully heart-warming film full of charming characters, will set you comfortably on the winter season track of fables and good intentions. ——–
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In a Tim Burton-style animation, director Tony Leondis (Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch) explores lessons of life, love and challenging stereotypes within the unexpectedly tragic and aptly named city, Malaria. The world of Malaria transports you into a realm of looming dark and heaving clouds pressing desperately hard on the stooped, mumbling servants of scientific laboratories. Igor (the focus of this curiously sweet film) is not an award-winning experimenter in the harsh city ruled by the law of evil scientists, but a down-trodden hunchback, destined to be nothing more. Igor, voiced by John Cusack (1408) held all the aspirations of a world-class scientist, but the traits of the ridiculed low life of Malaria. Never to be any more than an Igor he learns the tricks of the hunchback trade and resigns himself to experimenting in the dark underbelly of his master’s laboratory. He is a budding creator (in secret of course) but forced to work for the incompetent and stubborn Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese). However, when Igor is suddenly handed the opportunity that will put his inventions in the limelight, he has to be forced by his not-so loyal side-kicks into an explosion of montage music where he creates the ultimate female Frankenstein monster.
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Igor’s first successful creation and unwilling companion, named Scamper (Steve Buscemi, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry), is a self-resurrecting rabbit with a morbid fascination and grim outlook on life, similar to that of the manically-depressed robot ‘Marvin’ (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy). This does conjure overly gruesome images to your mind, but to reassure many parents, he is a brilliantly dry-witted character, trapped in an ordinarily cute rabbit body. The usually charming and loveable Sean Hayes (‘Jack’ from Will & Grace) is boiled down to a one-armed brain in a jar, too incompetent to spell his name right. It’s understandable that the over-the-top animation of this character is for the members of the audience too small to see over the chair in front, but it’s still disappointing for Sean Hayes to not play the character he does best.
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Proving herself to be a true screen-chameleon, the leading lady of Igor must be awarded to Jennifer Coolidge’s (Legally Blonde) Jaclyn/Heidi, despite being neither the largest nor most musically talented. Eva, voiced by Molly Shannon (Pushing Daisies), is not the most charismatic persona, but given the opportunity by writer Chris McKenna plays a new-found aspect of the Frankenstein monster and (any girls’ dream) gets to perform ‘Annie‘ on the big screen.
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With treasured characters to rival ‘Krunk’ of The Emperor’s New Groove, an exceptional soundtrack from Patrick Doyle and not-so-craftily scripted moral lessons, Igor is going to be high priority on adult and children’s Christmas lists this year.
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By Laura Taylor
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Synopsis
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Despite the run time only being 86 minutes, director Tony Leondis manages to squeeze in to his ‘fable’, life lessons every parent wishes to teach their children; “All men aren’t created Evil”, wrapped around the skeleton moral storyline of the traditional Frankenstein plot, and smothered in intricate puzzles for children to decipher.
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In Malaria, a city once known for its fertile fields, scientists play god and their hunchbacked ‘Igors’ are nobodies. Apart from one Igor. On a mission to prove his worth, Igor patches together a monster hideous on the outside, but beautiful on the inside, which fails to cause the carnage he desired. And during his desperate attempt to brain-wash his ‘monster’ into a killing machine, he inadvertently turns the rules of Malaria upside down.
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Film Facts
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Official UK site: http://www.igormovie.co.uk/
UK release date: 17th October 2008
Director: Tony Leondis
Writer: Chris McKenna
Cast: John Cusack (‘Igor’ (voice)), John Cleese (‘Dr Glickenstein’ (voice)), Steve Buscemi (‘Scamper’ (voice)), Sean Hayes (‘Brain’ (voice)), Eddie Izzard (’Dr Schadenfreude’ (voice)), Molly Shannon (’Eva’ (voice))
UK Distributor: Momentum Pictures
Certificate: PG
Run-time: 86 mins
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Video on Real.com
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Trailer:
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TWO CLIPS:
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Film Insight:
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Did you know…
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- Igor was first chosen to be voiced by Christian Slater, but he dropped out at the early stages of production
- Purely for the kids to revisit Igor’s world, there is an online game at: http://www.igormovie.co.uk/game/
- Before the 1939 film Son of Frankenstein, the character was originally spelt Ygor, but has been changed to Igor
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