MOVIE: The Iron Giant (1999)
The Iron GiantYear: 1999Rating: PGLength: 86 minutes / 1.43 hours
There's something magical about a coming of age story where a young boy befriends an alien entity. The Iron Giant (1999) is among the ranks of E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010) for these similar stories with equally magical results. I'm not sure if the moral of these films is that adults are more likely to want to kill what they don't understand or if there's an inherent peaceful nature to every creature—at least until it's threatened with violence.
What works well for The Iron Giant is the Red Scare of the 1950s providing a backdrop for the fear of unknown technology. Having just demonstrated the power of nuclear weapons in World War II, the titular giant can be seen as both a helpful and extremely dangerous entity. The ability of children to assume the innocence of things they don't understand sits in stark contrast to...