Movie and Television Reviews

One often hears Pixar movies praised for their ability to operate on different levels to entertain multiple demographic groups, or, in other words, for having funny bits for kids and funny bits for adults. Igor also operates on two levels: There are jokes for easily entertained little kids just happy to be outside of the house and looking at animation and jokes for easily entertained adults just happy to be outside of the house and looking at animation.

Igor revolves around two observations, that stereotypical "evil scientists" usually have deformed, abused assistants, and that those assistants are often called "Igor." According to Igor, one can't assume that all igors are subservient idiots: Igors are just as capable of being great scientists as non-deformed people (Igor does nothing to destroy the stereotype that Germans are the "maddest," most "evil" scientists. I guess some stereotypes are still quite useful.).

One of those igors, named Igor, resides in Malaria, a town in perpetual darkness because of the king's evil weather manipulation. When Igor's evil scientist, Dr. Glickenstein, dies, Igor tries to pass off his research at the evil science fair as Dr. Glickenstein's, as nobody would take an igor seriously, right? His creation is the monster, Eva.

Eva is big and ugly, with a grotesque asymmetry about her- one small arm and one big one; it seems to be the Igor animators' favorite uglifying technique. The only problem with Eva is that she's not evil- she's good. Eva's "evil bone" having failed to activate, apparently.

Igor attempts to make Eva evil by subjecting her to a brainwashing session, but things go awry when Eva watches a video of an acting coach instead. Igor then fools Eva into "acting" evil for the science fair in order to win. Rival evil scientist Dr. Schadenfreude tries to lure Eva away in time for the science fair.

Igor not only lacks genius, evil or otherwise, but is devoid of anything approaching clever. Names offer script writers cheap cleverness opportunities. Igor's writers offer such duds as "Malaria" for the town's name and Dr. Schadenfreude. One of the sidekicks, a disembodied brain, is a strait ripoff of Futurama. Potty humor abounds. All of the other jokes are essentially the same: Somebody starts talking calmly and than shouts excitedly: "I would like you to realize one thing, my friend, WE'RE ABOUT TO RUN INTO A HUGE COW!" or something like that.

Futurama, Vol. 1

The plot is briefly interesting when Igor tries to convince Eva that her planned-for rampage is really a part of Annie. It descends from there, however, into brain-dead foolishness and predictable, treacly, unearned sentimentalism.

Annie (Special Anniversary Edition)

Politics/Message:

The movie is disturbingly nihilist. Setting aside the logical, theological, and scientific questions surrounding the "creation" of life, we have a suicidal rabbit who can't die and the "recycling" of igors.

Oddly, the end is almost Christian. The concept of "original sin" rears its orthodox head when Eva declares that "We all have an evil bone, but we can choose not to use it."

The parts designed to appeal to adults are shockingly sexual in nature, the adult equivalent of the bathroom jokes for the kiddies. We have allusions to male endowment and even the animation is sexually suggestive, with visible junk bulges and breasts spilling out of blouses.

For the kids, Igor gives us uncomfortable, un-PC (in a bad way) jokes about blind, fat, and ugly people.

Finally, Igor has some lame Bush-bashing. Reminiscent of the odious 9/11 truther-flick Loose Change, the king manufactures the weather crisis to promote his evil agenda. Igor uses the crudest, most over-used Bush allusion when Dr. schadenfreude says to Igor, "You're either with us or against us," further proof of Igor's originality crisis.

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