Igor (2008)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Anthony Leondis

Writers:

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

Release Date:

19 September 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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:

Scamper was originally to be introduced while hanging himself as Igor returns to the castle at the beginning of the movie. This is included in the novelization of the film but was cut from the actual release.

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 The Fly (1958)

Soundtrack:

Baby, Won't You Please Come Home

Cuter Than Expected

This movie should not have worked.

It had fairly standard characters--the henchman who wants to be a great inventor, the bitter immortal, the stupid brain, the not-so-evil Frankenstein-esquire Monster. It had predictable gags, a clichéd plot, and voice actors that made it easy to tell who was the hero, who was the villain, and who was the comic relief. It was filled with puns that were absolute groaners. In any other movie, I would have shut off the television within the first ten minutes.

But somehow, with this movie...it worked. The plot was comfortable and gave me a warm, cosy glow--while still somehow being unique and funny. Scamper and Brain (Brian) made me laugh until I almost cried, and when Igor and Eva interacted, I wanted to cry from happiness. Schadenfreude was an amazing villain. Dr. Glickenstein was, essentially, John Cleese, and Jay Leno made an excellent king. Yeah, the puns were still groaners, but somehow...they worked. And despite the fact that they set one up right from the very beginning of the movie, none of us who were watching the movie figured it out until they dropped the punchline on us. Several plot twists came out of nowhere, or we just didn't catch them. And the ending was just adorable.

All in all, 10/10, and I recommend this movie to anyone.

(By the way, I should mention that "we" who were watching this movie are juniors and seniors in college. This is a fun one for everybody.)