Customer Reviews

Igor: Deluxe Edition (with Exclusive Igor Flip Books)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I can see why some people hated this film, because if you bought the DVD to keep your young children occupied, you didn't get your money's worth. 'Igor' is really for old horror buffs, but it tried to play both sides of the field. It's too adult for kids and not dark enough for adults.

The animation is very good and looks more than a little inspired by 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. The voice work isn't bad, but the film doesn't have enough inspired characters to keep the momentum going. Most of the comic relief comes from an immortal rabbit who wants to die!

Overall I think if you like old horror films and animated films you'll like 'Igor', but it will not keep the little ones interested. The DVD has an excellent transfer, but not a lot of extras. There is an alternate beginning that is interesting.

I have seen most of the computer generated animated movies. The Pixar ones, naturally, are the best in terms of script quality and overall likability for all ages. The non-Pixar ones are usually pretty good but not up to that quality (Shrek, Over the Hedge, Madagascar, etc.), but some are not good at all in my opinion such as Madagascar 2 and Happy Feet to name a few. It all depends on what you want out of an animated movie. I personaly look for an engaging plot and most of all the funny one-line quips that are a staple of this genre. The main thing for me with this movie was its originality. The plot is really unique and there were tons of funny one-liners that I chuckled at throughout. My kids 7 & 9 also were laughing and we watched it twice. I had never even heard of this movie and just picked it off the shelf at Blockbuster, and I am really glad I did. I would say this is one of the best non-Pixar animated movies I've seen.

I picked up IGOR at a discount, not knowing anything about it other than what was written on the back of the case. I love old horror movies and I love wacky comedy, so I figured it might be worth it. I've watched it three times now, enjoying it more each time. True, it gets off to a slow start. John Cusack's voice-over back-story opening is very weak. It's not particularly funny and he doesn't do it well. I almost gave up. But I'm nothing if not persistent. The result: It's a stitch! Once Eva, the monster who thinks she's an actress, takes stage, the movie picks up tremendously. There are funny situations, brilliant one-liners, great acting, clever animation. Okay, I admit it: when the message arrives ("We're all born with an evil bone. It's up to us whether or not we use it."), it screams: MESSAGE!!! But that's okay, because the road there is paved with such great stuff. This was an indie production, so without the Pixar-type funding, it falls somewhat short of the visual brilliance of the big-studio animation films. But it's miles and miles above BARNYARD. (Hell, ANY movie is miles and miles above BARNYARD!) I don't particularly recommend this for kids. They wouldn't get through the opening and they wouldn't get 15% of the humor. But for those of us who like ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT, it's a must-see. Oh yes, there's also the wonderful voice of Jennifer Coolidge. Can't go wrong with that!

I should start by saying that, as a fan of both classic horror films and spoofs of classic horror films, I really wanted to like Igor. I really did. But I couldn't help feeling through most of the movie that the creators _really_ should've spent more time on the script. You can see what they were going for, and you can also see how the concept should have been great. But the execution however, never quite hits the mark.

A big problem is the design. You cannot watch Igor without comparing it to The Nightmare Before Christmas, not only because of the stop-action animation similarity but because the sheer look of the film seems so clearly derivative of Nightmare Before Christmas. Eva is modelled on Sally, and I could swear that they actually reused Nightmare's Mayor action figure for Igor's King Malbert. And even if you can get past the visual derivation, there's the problem of characters seeming derivative. Brain, the classic sci-fi/horror "brain in a jar", has a personality derived from a different source: B.O.B. the Blob in Monsters Vs Aliens.

Only two characters really stand out. Igor (voiced by John Cusack) is clearly drawn and likeable and can _almost_ make you care enough to ignore the film's short-comings. And Scamper (voiced by the inimitable Steve Buscemi) is actually the best thing about the film: an acerbic, immortal rabbit who wants desperately to commit suicide. And who has all of the best lines:

Igor: [shouts] Pull the switch!
[Nothing happens. He looks over at Scamper, standing by the switch]
Scamper: Do *not* yell at me.
Igor: Oh, I-I'm sorry. I just... pull the switch?
[No response]
Igor: Please pull the switch.
Scamper: That's better.

Brain: Our work here is done.
Scamper: 'Our work'? You spent the whole time playing with a piece of ribbon.

Igor isn't a bad film. It's an okay film with occasional moments where it's actually good. But it could've been a really good film if the writers and designers had just given it one more good going-over before putting it into production. Recommended for fans of stop-action animation and of spoofs of horror films with an hour and a half to kill. And for Steve Buscemi fans.

Igor is an adorable, heart-warming animated feature that's sure to leave entire families in stitches; it's delightfully morbid and features some subtle adult humor as well as laugh-out-loud slapstick to keep the children busy. I was wonderfully surprised by the "Nightmare Before Christmas" look and feel of Igor and the voice talent was exceptional.

This is an imaginative little film that really seems to have been lost in the theatrical shuffle, which is a shame because it deserves some attention. The quality of the animation was superb, the score by Patrick Doyle appropriately light-hearted and anything with John Cleese should be seen at least once..."Ni!" Did I mention Steve Buscemi plays a genetically altered rabbit incapable of dying? Oh yeah, you just know wild, gory sequences are just beggin' to happen!

Don't let the look of this flick fool you, it's not a Veggie Tales feature, this is a gory, gross, morbid, macabre and downright funny film. As I mentioned above, Igor shares quite a few similarities with A Nightmare Before Christmas, King Malbert and The Mayor of Halloweentown and Eva and Sally are nearly identical, so fans should give it a look-see. Is it a renter? Is it a keeper? I personally feel this is a keeper though the kids will probably find this a bit more entertaining upon repeated viewings than you adults.

I was very dissappointed by this movie. Granted I knew it wasn't a blockbuster, but the whole story was flawed. The main character's companion bunny spends the entire movie depressed and trying to kill himself, but he's been genetically modified to be unkillable. So he goes through various means of trying to commit suicide and keeps living, which makes him unhappy-er. Great for kids, huh? Then the whole premise of creating things to blackmail the world to pay their town was pretty adult concept. I didn't find a whole lot of humor in the story either. I really didn't want to have my little kids (5 & 8) watching a movie where one of the characters is depressed and tries to kill himself, but after starting the movie was in an awkward situation as kids love movies. They seemed to take it stride, but I was cringing. I would not bother with this one~!

My eight-year-old son talked me into picking this up the other day. I'd never heard of it, but when I saw the cast (John Cusack! John Cleese! Jennifer Coolidge! Steve Buscemi! Sean Hayes! And the icing on the cake, the one and only Eddie Izzard as the villian!!!!), I asked myself "How bad can it be?"

And the answer? Not awful. No, it's too dull and boring to be awful.

The stellar cast does its best with a mediocre (at best) script. And the animation design is interesting, even if it is pretty much a shiny rip-off of the style of Nightmare Before Christmas (the king in this looks uncannily like the mayor in Nightmare, without any of the cleverness).

I could go on and on about all the things wrong with this movie, but all that matters is that the end result is a huge waste of the movie studio's money. Don't fall into the same trap.

Move along folks, nothin' to see here.....

My husband and I watched this begrudingly with our children, ages 4 and 6, and we couldn't stop laughing. It was hilarious! We loved it, the kids loved it, and we couldn't figure out why this movie didn't get the huge PR push usually associated with animated films. This is one we will enjoy for a very long time. Lots of great one-liners.

People keep comparing this film to Tim Burton, but the humor is much funnier and more sarcastic. Maybe the problem is that too many of those viewing the film have never seen Young Frankenstein. In this animated film, Igor finally gets his day in the sunlight. The problem is, he finds out that the sunlight isn't what it was cracked up to be and that leads to an even better ending. The voice artists are fantastic and Buschemi steals the show. The score, complete with full symphony orchestra is worthy of the old classic horror films. The only problem is that the cover art makes this movie seem childish and shallow, when it is comedic, sophisticated, and brilliant!

Enjoyed this movie mainly for its highly imaginative visuals and an engaging story. Celebrity voices are always a nice touch, and it was funny to hear two late-night hosts lend their talents to this particular picture. The storyline, though a fairly by-the-rules effort, was carried by a quirky, non-conventional concept of the world through eyes of a lab assistant to a mad/high-tech scientist.