I spent the day with my 6-year-old nephew today and we decided that a movie would be a good way to fill some time. The only things playing in the area that were age-appropriate were Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Igor. Honestly, I sort of had myself psyched up for Chihuahua (hat-tip, thethuthinnang) but my nephew chose Igor.

It turned out to be a pretty fun movie, perfect for the Halloween season. The premise is that there’s a whole society of mad scientists who hold an evil science fair every year and then blackmail the free world into paying them to not unleash the winning creation. Igor is a lowly assistant who wishes he could be a mad scientist in his own right. Over the course of the film he learns to recognize his own self-worth… or some bullshit like that, I mean, whatever… anyways, Igor is pretty cool. The visual style is something of an unapologetic rip-off of Tim Burton’s animated features. There are some pretty big names providing voices: John Cusack as Igor, Steve Buscemi as an immortal-yet-suicidal lab rabbit, Eddie Izzard as the bad guy, Molly Shannon as the homemade love interest, plus John Cleese in a small role.

It’s not amazing. It’s getting like 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, and that’s pretty accurate. Still, I can easily recommend it if you’ve got a kid around, or maybe as a seasonal thing. There are some pretty clever gags, such as a nod to the original The Fly, and an invisible man character who refuses to wear pants. It’s just fun to see a kids’ movie that’s dressed in horror trappings like this.

Filed under: Movies