Igor also lacks originality – a tricky word since nothing is truly original, not even Wall-E – in the nagging sense of everything feeling shoplifted. The visual design has Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas written all over it. And everything from Sunset Boulevard to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to Phantom of the Opera gets a nod and a wink. I call it the Shrek syndrome, nothing new, everything borrowed.
This isn’t truly terrible though. The Burton-esque character designs with a villain’s head shaped like an onion and a heroine’s spiked eyelashes and asymmetrical arms and legs that give the impression of her being forever on the verge of toppling over has a genuine appeal. I had a lot of fun admiring the artistry at play in Igor. Then I’d pinch myself and get back to the work of caring about the story.
Director Anthony Leondis does have something to say with Igor. Its dark, cloud-shrouded world with a king (Jay Leno) who holds contests to award the next great frightening invention to keep the people cowering and in line is a fairly well veiled allegory – until the ending makes it too explicit – for how the powers that be keep the people of America so fearful that they haven’t the time to really notice what’s going on. Believe it or not, this “family movie” is essentially a remake of Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine.
So, back to my question: “What went wrong?” Which would a child – or most adults – rather watch, a charming little romance between a pair of robots or a polemic about the abuse of power? And yes, of course, that last question is rhetorical.
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