IGOR
 
STARRING: John Cusack, Steve
Buscemi, John Cleese, Jeremy Piven, Jennifer Coolidge, Jay Leno, Molly Shannon,
Sean Hayes
2008, 87 Minutes, Directed by:
Anthony Leondis
 A
routine CG-animated family film offering, Igor does have the novelty of
being something darker to offer the little ones as the Halloween season begins
to creep into view. Embracing monster movie motifs from the classic era of
cinema, Igor has charm but misses a grand opportunity to evoke the world
of James Whale when it would rather crib blatantly from Tim Burton.
In a far away land called
Malaria, evil deeds are encouraged by King Malbert (voiced by Jay Leno) and his
population of mad scientists. With the help of their assisting Igors, the
scientists are preparing for the annual fair to show off their accomplishments,
and the cunning Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) is ready to take home the gold
again. When Igor (John Cusack) finds his dim-witted master Dr. Glickenstein
(John Cleese) killed by his own stupidity, the brilliant young college-educated
toady fills in with a special offering: a humongous disfigured monster named Eva
(Molly Shannon). Created for nefarious purposes, Igor is shocked to find Eva is
a kindly soul who wants nothing more than to become an actress, encouraging the
jealous wrath of Schadenfreude and his shape-shifting girlfriend, Jaclyn
(Jennifer Coolidge).
While I'm positive it was
created with the best of intentions, it's nearly impossible to examine Igor
and not notice the serious Nightmare Before Christmas similarities that
litter the motion picture. The parallels are drawn most severely in the angular,
ghoulish character designs, with the animation a near photocopy of Burton's cult
classic, viewed most uncomfortably in the King Malbert character. It's truly
difficult to register the connection as tribute or robbery, and it pulls apart
what little fun there is to savor in Igor.
Step beyond the mimicry, and
Igor has other problems to solve, including an irreverent tone lifted from
Shrek (a screenwriting quirk that needs to be flushed from family films
permanently) and some curious targets for jokes, one itchy riff pointed at a
Malaria school for blind kids. There's some great discomfort there.
However, Igor has some
spring to its step courtesy of the Louis Prima soundtrack and the voice cast,
who put in a game effort trying to accurately navigate the screenplay's sense of
humor and keep character arcs clear as a bell. Cusack and Shannon impressed me
the most here, making for a sweet odd couple (she's as big as a house, he's
about as tall as the doorknob), with Cusack showing atypical interest in
maintaining an upbeat delivery. Special support comes from Steve Buscemi and
Sean Hayes as Igor's previous failed monster experiments, which come to the aid
of their creator with a healthy offering of slapstick and sarcastic wit.
Frantically directed by Anthony
Leondis (Lilo and Stitch 2), who slings the camera around as if this was
a jackhammer Michael Bay animated production, Igor has a few fine moments
of macabre mischief to enjoy before mediocrity sets in, along with a huge amount
of distasteful chaos. Igor is crafty, just never triumphant or
enchanting, trying too hard to ape previous morbid comedies and not focusing on
the obvious problems at hand.
- Brian Orndorf
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