Luke Baldock (kiriyamakazou)

I watched this for the first time in 13 years just now. Saw it at the cinema originally, and it was truly a sight to behold. It still holds up today and the animation looks incredibly fresh. The Iron Giant sees a large robot land on Earth in the 50's. A young boy soon makes friends with it, while a government agent investigates the sightings. The robot has forgotten who he is, but trouble arises when his built in defence mechanisms may be a danger to the small town. The Iron Giant is base on the book The Iron Man written by Ted Hughes. A book I remember from primary school. This adaptation has Americanized it, as well as making it more of a space themed Sci-Fi. The book had a battle with a space dragon, something I would have actually liked to see, even if it didn't work. The 50's setting is perfect for this kind of film. It's all about friendship, and being able to make choices no matter how we were raised. The giant is both sympathetic and cute, as well as being dangerous. It's the age old case of violence begets violence. I did find certain moments rushed in the film, as animation is usually short, but most of all I had trouble associating with Kent Mansley. He just goes too haywire towards the end. This is great stuff though, with strong animation, good vocal performances, exciting action sequences, and messages about friendship, peace, and sacrifice.

The Wicker Man is one of the greatest and most original films you will ever see. For years I have anticipated this spiritual sequel, and so it's no surprise that I was very disappointed. It seems as though, despite years of rumours and hardwork, once Hardy got around to making it, all the life had been sucked from him and the film. The Wicker Tree sees two born again christians travel from America to Scotland to preach the word of Jesus. Unbeknownst to them, this is a place of pagan rituals and sacrifice. This film was certainly trying to parody moments from its predecessor at times. With some heavy handed moments of comedy. Unfortunately, The Wicker Man is one of those films where you laugh nervously at it. It may be easy to lampoon, but it also has fear interlaced with the weird. Here, everything seems slightly amateur and repetitive. The score has nothing on the original, and the songs are barely memorable. We are also given two protagonists that we don't care about. They are comedic cliches of how super American christians are. All they want to do is spread the word of Jesus in a cheesy cornball mannor. Unlike Howie, who was a devote Christian fighting to find a missing girl. The Wicker Man seemed to triumph despite its flaws. Those are what added to the memorable quirks which happened organically. Here they are forced into the film, which means that some actors seem unsure as to whether this is a comedy, horror, satire, or thriller. It's none of these. I may revisit it one day without the expectatons, but it makes me want to watch The Wicker Man again.