Igor review

With the growth of animated cinema and the constant attempt be make the graphics look more and more realistic, Igor dares to be different by shying away from the realistic and focusing more on the cartoon side of animation.  Featuring the voices of John Cusack (Igor), John Cleese (Dr. Glickenstein), Steve Buscemi (Scamper), Sean Hayes ( Brain), Molly Shannon (Eva) and Eddie Izzard (Dr. Schadenfreude), it’s a fun-filled, sarcastic take off of the Frankenstein story, and a brilliantly creative one, that gives us a new look at an older style of animation.

The story is based in the land of Malaria where you are either a somebody or a nobody. The superstar somebodies are the evil mad scientists, whereas the nobodies are their insignificant hunchbacked assistants known as Igors. But one Igor (John Cusack) is about to break away from the norm, as he’s a very talented inventor and dreams of being an evil scientist and winning the annual Evil Science Fair. Along with his friends Scamper, an indestructible rabbit with a death wish, and the not so intelligent Brain, Igor plans to create the greatest invention Malaria has ever seen, win the Fair and get all the fame and fortune that comes along with it. Meanwhile the evil fraud Dr. Schadenfreude, the reigning winner of the Evil Science Fair, is planning to steal Igor’s creation. Igor and his trusty sidekicks must pull together and try to save Malaria from the evil Schadenfreude.

Both the style of animation and the colouring of the film are very dark. The majority of animated films lean more towards making the animation look as realistic as possible, whereas Igor opts for a deliberate, cartoony-approach. The aesthetic is very sharp, as most of the animation has very elongated and pointed attributes. The style of animation perfectly suits the style of film and Sparx Animation Studios seem to have done a stellar job.

The characters in the film are well match to their respective voices, each sounding pretty much how you’d expect. The one problem I had with the film though was the fact that although the humour used is great in its sarcastic, slapstick way, the film’s main target audience is children and characters such as a sadistic bunny constantly trying to kill itself isn’t really what most parents would want their children to see. This problem does crop up a few times throughout the film with scenes that seem unsuitable for the younger generation.

For a new film that dares to step outside the norm, though, Igor does work. It’s interesting and very entertaining. Recommend to anyone wanting to go and see a light hearted film for a couple of hours of fun.