Igor (2008)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Anthony Leondis

Writers:

Chris McKenna (written by) and
John Hoffman (additional screenplay)

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

All men aren't created Evil.

Plot:

Animated fable about a cliché hunchbacked evil scientist's assistant who aspires to become a scientist himself, much to the displeasure of the rest of the evil science community.

Plot Keywords:

Evil Scientist | Mad Scientist | Assistant | Science | Invention

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Cusack	...	Igor (voice)
Myleene Klass	...	Dr. Holzwurm (voice)
Robin Walsh	...	Dr. Holzwurm's Igor (voice) (as Robin Howard)
Matt McKenna	...	Dr. Herzschlag (voice)
John Cleese	...	Dr. Glickenstein (voice)
Steve Buscemi	...	Scamper (voice)
Sean Hayes	...	Brain (voice)
Jess Harnell	...	Announcer / Royal Guard #2 (voice)
Eddie Izzard	...	Dr. Schadenfreude (voice)
Jennifer Coolidge	...	Jaclyn / Heidi (voice)
Jay Leno	...	King Malbert (voice)
Molly Shannon	...	Eva (voice)
Zoë Bright	...	Blind Woman / Killiseum Fan #1 (voice)
Sophia Eraklis	...	Blind Orphan #1 (voice)
A. Cheron Hall	...	Blind Orphan #2 / Blind Orphan #4 (voice)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some thematic elements, scary images, action and mild language.

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #44613) | UK:PG | Ireland:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | New Zealand:PG | Netherlands:6 | Argentina:Atp | Mexico:A | Portugal:M/6 (dubbed version)

Company:

Exodus Film Group

Trivia:

'Schadenfreude' is a German word meaning a feeling of pleasure caused by something bad happening to another person.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Igor takes Eva to the "Brain Wash", she's put in carriage/booth #12. Brian/Brain gets his own brain cleaned in #04. However, both of these are not only next to each other, but by the end, they both appear to be getting out of the same carriage #04, next to #03.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Igor: [voice over] Nice weather we're having, huh? Here in the Kingdom of Malaria, every day's forecast is rainy, with a 100% chance of horror! It wasn't always like this, though. Years ago, Malaria was a sunny land of farmers, until the mysterious storm clouds rolled in...
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Sunset Blvd. (1950)

Well, I Liked It

I don't know why this movie doesn't get more positive recognition; I thought it was terrific, and I've seen most the feature-length animated films of the past several years. This holds it own against most of them.

For an animated film, it has exactly what you want: fantastic colors and colorful characters -most of them very funny and entertaining to view and hear - and a good story with some interesting twists to it. The artwork in this film is just amazing, especially on Blu-Ray. (I've discovered that's how to watch these new animated movies - in high-def, because most of them look awesome. This film certainly is no exception.) There were many times I just wanted the freeze-frame the picture and take in all the wild artwork. I might do that on a second viewing.

Also no surprise is Steve Buscemi, who always gets humorous roles in these animated films and makes everyone laugh. He usually plays a rat, too. I mentioned that to a friend and he said, "That's because he looks like one in real life." I wouldn't go that far, but I understand where he's coming from.

Actually, all the leading voices - Buscemi, John Cusack, Molly Shannon, Sean Hayes, John Cleese, Jay Leno and more were all great. I'll give a special nod to the voice that cracked me up more than all the others, the one of "Hedi," done by Jennifer Coolidge. She was hilarious!

If you enjoy the famous Frankstein monster story, or wild characters in a monster-lab-type setting, you should enjoy this parody. It's an underrated film and looks super on DVD.