OPENS: September 19, 2008
RATING: PG (Scary scenes, Violence)
GENRE: Fantasy, Animation, Comedy
The Weinstein Company releases its latest entry in animated film with Igor, a French import featuring a top-notch American cast.
A spoof of American horror movie stereotypes, the film follows the exploits of a hunchback who isn’t willing to settle for being a mindless servant to an evil genius.
According to critical reviews, Igor gets points for a winning premise, but most negative criticism is aimed at a script that is supposedly a little too unpolished for what today’s audiences expect in computer animation.
Other critics pointed out that this film seemed a little schizophrenic in that a plot tailor made for an adult audience is awkwardly shoehorned into a kiddie flick movie with mixed results.
Of the positive notes, all t=of the critics point out that the cast is talented – perhaps to the point of being better than the material they are reading.
WATCH THE TRAILER
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- Script has sharp dialogue
- Top-notch cast
- Scary Imagery and Violence unsuitable for young children
- Humor too complicated for children
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{for="Toronto Globe and Mail" value="1"}
“Are kids actually supposed to laugh at this? And if they do, should you get them into therapy?” – Liam Lacey
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{for=”San Francisco Chronicle” value=”5″}
“While much of the banter between the characters is inventive, the plot turns are predictable – complete with a romantic misunderstanding straight out of “The Karate Kid” (and 20 other films). The movie ends with a big-action sequence that highlights the shortcomings of the animation and seems to go on forever.” – Peter Heartlaub
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{for=”San Jose Mercury News” value=”4″}
“Chatty and dull, a bit too reliant on innuendo for a kids’ film. And the voice actors (Jay Leno rules Malaria) are funnier than their material.” – Roger Moore
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{for=”Seattle Post Intelligencer” value=”4″}
“Igor trudges through its story without a single surprise or unanticipated turn while marginally clever sight gags fill in the dead spaces between the flat jokes. Despite a familiar moral, this is no “Iron Giant,” just a haphazard collection of spare movie parts cobbled together in a pale imitation of better-animated comedies.” – Sean Axmaker
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{for=”The Hollywood Reporter” value=”5″}
“ The visual style grows a bit monotonous, but a more serious problem is that the story is undernourished, and the wit erupts only in flashes.” – Stephen Farber
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{for=”New York Newsday” value=”7″}
“Not all the jokes work, but most do, and the overall tenor of Igor is goofily funny – probably a bit sophisticated for kids but certainly good-natured.” – John Anderson
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