Spring Break
'Igor' is no 'Finding Nemo'
Eric Nigosanti
Issue date: 9/23/08 Section: Focus
As a warning, "Igor" is not another Pixar CGI movie. It is instead part of the newly into computer animation Exodus Film Group, so anyone expecting something along the lines of a "Finding Nemo" or "Cars" will have something of a shock.
The same basic storyline, with an underdog hero trying to prove himself to the world, but "Igor's" setting in a world of evil allows it to have edgier humor than the big studio films. Yet in taking a chance, the jokes have to be smart and the story needs to be at least mildly entertaining.
"Igor" takes place in the dark, dank, and always cloudy town of Malaria, which has turned to evil where to sustain itself economically. The pride of the town is the yearly Evil Science Fair where all the mad scientists come together to see who came up with the best killing machine. Igor (voice of John Cusack), whose hunchback kind are normally treated as slaves/punching bags, finds his chance to compete in the fair when his master, Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese), idiotically blows himself up. Seizing his opportunity, Igor builds a giant indestructible living woman who can physically annihilate the competition out of a hodgepodge of body parts. Unfortunately, the woman, who calls herself Eva (Molly Shannon), would rather play with blind orphans than act out her true purpose.
Although on paper the plot seems crazy enough to be worthwhile, at heart it lacks any real originality. It follows the most basic underdog story and there are no surprises past the opening credits.
Yet what kills the movie is the string of horrendous jokes, which are mostly insults or just jokes with missing punch lines. This resulted in mostly silence from the half-filled theatre and the only real laughs were by the same people that got excited during the "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" trailer.
Even with all this, there are some parts that spark some mild amusement and most of these involve Scamper (Steve Buscemi), Igor's immortal rabbit assistant/past creation. The problem with Scamper being immortal is that he wants to die, and none of his creative suicide attempts gets him any closer to his goal.
There are also a few good lines like, "I'd rather be a good nobody then an evil somebody," to not only inspire the characters but also the children in the audience that this movie is geared for.
In the end, "Igor" fails as a comedy and as any kind of original adventure. The animation is decent and some of the character designs seem like a collection of cheap modern art exhibits that have come to life, but the film is not trippy enough to bring everything together.
It is too bad, since this seems like the perfect movie where evil can win for once. Despite using some classy big band music in its score, "Igor" isn't fooling anybody.
The same basic storyline, with an underdog hero trying to prove himself to the world, but "Igor's" setting in a world of evil allows it to have edgier humor than the big studio films. Yet in taking a chance, the jokes have to be smart and the story needs to be at least mildly entertaining.
"Igor" takes place in the dark, dank, and always cloudy town of Malaria, which has turned to evil where to sustain itself economically. The pride of the town is the yearly Evil Science Fair where all the mad scientists come together to see who came up with the best killing machine. Igor (voice of John Cusack), whose hunchback kind are normally treated as slaves/punching bags, finds his chance to compete in the fair when his master, Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese), idiotically blows himself up. Seizing his opportunity, Igor builds a giant indestructible living woman who can physically annihilate the competition out of a hodgepodge of body parts. Unfortunately, the woman, who calls herself Eva (Molly Shannon), would rather play with blind orphans than act out her true purpose.
Although on paper the plot seems crazy enough to be worthwhile, at heart it lacks any real originality. It follows the most basic underdog story and there are no surprises past the opening credits.
Yet what kills the movie is the string of horrendous jokes, which are mostly insults or just jokes with missing punch lines. This resulted in mostly silence from the half-filled theatre and the only real laughs were by the same people that got excited during the "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" trailer.
Even with all this, there are some parts that spark some mild amusement and most of these involve Scamper (Steve Buscemi), Igor's immortal rabbit assistant/past creation. The problem with Scamper being immortal is that he wants to die, and none of his creative suicide attempts gets him any closer to his goal.
There are also a few good lines like, "I'd rather be a good nobody then an evil somebody," to not only inspire the characters but also the children in the audience that this movie is geared for.
In the end, "Igor" fails as a comedy and as any kind of original adventure. The animation is decent and some of the character designs seem like a collection of cheap modern art exhibits that have come to life, but the film is not trippy enough to bring everything together.
It is too bad, since this seems like the perfect movie where evil can win for once. Despite using some classy big band music in its score, "Igor" isn't fooling anybody.
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