It didn't do well in
the theatres.
Gee, what a surprise -- there's not a single cute song in it. How can
an animated film be any good if it doesn't have cute songs?
I'll TELL you how it can -- it can be a wonderful film with a
real heart that looks at a serious subject and considers it in a
thoughtful and even-handed manner. It can present a leading character
who is thoroughly "human" -- despite being about as non-human as you
can get.
It can be a film set in a period of paranoia and suspicion that was
still a simpler and quieter time, and it can perfectly capture that
time.
It can have scary moments and funny moments and moments of genuine
pathos and love and warmth.
It can have a genuinely despicable villain -- and an Army General who's
rational, level-headed and actually thinks before he shoots.
It can work on several levels for adults, young adults and kids all at
once. It can pay tribute to the wonderful cheesy films we all loved in
the Fifties (especially the original "Invaders
from Mars", "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "The Brain from
Planet Arous").
And it can ask -- and answer -- the question:
"What if -- a gun had a soul?
"What if -- a gun didn't HAVE to be a gun?"
And, just incidentally, it can be the best-animated film i have seen in
years.
And it can have a squirrel in it.
And that's how it can be a great movie. |
