Igor (2008) Movie Review

Igor is an animated film that has good vibes going for it, centering on the theme that good can come out of intended evil. However, the film itself is not that good; it is merely in a few parts and has some very dark elements that children may not understand. Though it seems to be a film in the spirit of Tim Burton, the dark creative director had nothing to do with this film. It was conceived from American Dad writer Chris McKenna and under the direction of Anthony Leondis.

The film takes place in an evil world, where evil scientists and their Igors compete annually at the Evil Science Fair for recognition from King Malbert (Jay Leno). Igor (John Cusack) is a lonely Igor sidekick that is actually a better inventor that his boss, Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese). When Glickenstein unexpectedly bits the dust, Igor looks to take his place in the Evil Science Fair with a new invention. Along with the help with his only two friends, Scamper (Steve Buscemi) and Brain (Sean Hayes), who are also in someway his inventions. Scamper is a skinny rabbit that is constantly trying to kill himself, even though Igor made it to where he can’t. Brain on the other hand is a brain with personality in a glass jar that is also always nervous. Under Igor’s direction, Eva (Molly Shannon) is created a huge Frankenstein’s monster type woman that does not have an evil bone in her body. Though Igor put an evil bone in her finger, Eva is still as sweet as she can be and treats Igor with respect, which is something he has never had. Trying to find a way to make her more evil by the time of the Evil Science Fair, Igor searches for answers everywhere. He also has to find a way to fend off the villain of the film Dr. Scadenfreude (Eddie Izzard), who plans to still his invention for his own doing.

The tone of the film from Leondis is harmless, but it still too dark for really young viewers, especially with all the evil talk and constant suicide attempts by Scamper. The moral of the story shines at the end of the film, but Igor is a rehashed animated film taking ideas from much better animated movies, mostly Pixar. In reference to Pixar, moviegoers are now spoiled by them in terms of animation quality in films. Compared to Pixar film quality, Igor looks like a junk yard compared to a brand new car lot. This is really not a fair comparison, but if a studio decides to make an animated film that is not a Pixar film, the writing and plot better solidly connect with audiences, or it will leave theatres quickly.

The cast of the film is not that bad, which includes John Cusack as Igor and a wise-cracking Steve Buscemi as Scamper. Sean Hayes adds his usually hyper-active notions to the character of Brain, and SNL alumni Molly Shannon plays the part of Eva.

Igor is really just flat and is nothing creative or original as an animated family film. There are dark elements in the film that may have confuse children, but there is nothing in the film that scary or more violent than a Tom and Jerry cartoon.