Writer: Lai Swee Wei

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Watch this if you liked: "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "James And The Giant Peach", "Corpse Bride"

What can I say about animation films? They're colourful, fun, humourous and downright entertaining! To me, Pixar Animation Studios is the king of all animation films as they are the brains behind so many successful films like "Toy Story", "Monster's Inc.", "The Incredibles" and recent sweet love story of "Wall-E". Nowadays, I find it a hard time watching other animation films that aren't produced by Pixar because they're mostly not as good, except for "Kung Fu Panda" that is.

Based on first impressions, "Igor" comes across as a cheap animation film that is not crafted well in terms of its graphics. It almost seems like a student's attempt at a project as you can see the effort, but it's just not quite there. The artwork is slightly similar to "The Nightmare Before Chrstmas" but not as good. However, I was surprised it had big names in it like John Cusack as the star voice for the main character. So, I guess it shouldn't be too bad, eh?

In the land of Malaria, Igor is sick of being a lowly lab assistant with a Yes Masters' degree and dreams of becoming a scientist. The story mocks the common stereotype Igors back in the olden days when they speak with a slur, rub their hands together and passively say "Yes, master" all the way. Not a great starter for laughs.

Igor has two experimental creatures by his side as his close mates: Brain, a brain in a jar who's a little light on brains, and Scamper, a cynical bunny who's created to be immortal. Scamper is a great character as he injects a lot of humour and sarcasm into the story that works, unlike Brain whose jokes are really hard to laugh at. If this suicidal bunny weren't there, I just don't know where to turn to for laughs. The movie really is just a premise filled in with mostly weak attempts at humour and dumb cliches. Igor's invention is a female version of Frankenstein, which weirdly turns to be his love interest.

Soundtrack has a 'sun' theme to fit the ending of the film, with songs like "Pocket Full Of Sunshine" and "I Can See Clearly Now". Too many sun-themed songs are kind of funny, especially when a group of blind orphans sang "I Can See Clearly Now". How ironic.

Although it's not a very good movie, the moral values do help as it carries hope and how the most unlikely people can sometimes change the world.

Oh wait, isn't that another movie too?

Cinema Online, 31 October 2008