Seen on: September 20, 2008

The players: Director: Anthony Leondis, Writers: David Koepp, John Kamps, Cast (Voices): John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jay Leno, Jennifer Coolidge

Facts of interest: This is an American-French coproduction.

The plot: Igor (Cusack), the servant of an evil scientist, dreams of creating a monster and win the annual Evil Science Fair.

Our quick thoughts: “Igor” is a film packed with great ideas that are sloppily executed. I know it may be a harsh thing to say, but Anthony Leondis’ big-screen debut falls victim to a disappointing script that clearly undermines an excellent voice cast and a decent animation.

Set in the dark land of Malaria, the story focuses on Igor (John Cusack), a hunchbacked lab assistant who dreams of becoming a respected mad scientist by winning the annual Evil Science Fair. So when his evil master accidentally kicks the bucket, Igor quickly seizes the opportunity.

With the help of a suicidal rabbit (Steve Buscemi) and a talking brain in a jar (Sean Hayes), Igor strives to create an evil monster that will blow everybody away at the fair. But things don’t go as expected, and the creature Igor brings to life is really a good-hearted thing that finds more pleasure in singing and acting than doing evil stuff.

What happens next is not particularly original. While Igor tries everything to teach his invention to be evil, he quickly finds his plans interrupted by the ruthless Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard), a mad scientist who plans to steal Igor’s creation and use it for his own purpose. 

Making an animated movie that’s supposed to put a humorous twist on the story of “Frankenstein” takes a lot of courage and a vivid imagination, but I didn’t see any of that in “Igor.” Instead, I really tried my best to keep my eyes open during the film’s boring first hour.

I certainly praise screenwriter Chris McKenna for coming up with the idea of an evil protagonist who accidentally creates a kindhearted monster, but I was shocked to see he completely failed to take this cool concept and turn it into an exciting, fast-paced flick. Suspense is scarce and most of the jokes don’t fly, leaving behind a boring plot that’s too monotonous to captivate.

The film’s animation looks passable, but it’s not good enough to cast some shadow over the poor storytelling. Youngsters may find some pleasure in watching a hunchback and a mad inventor fight over a kind creature, but I found it be painful. The final 20 minutes of “Igor” manage to pick up some speed, but by then the damage is just too big to turn things around.

The voice-overs work for the most part, but they certainly don’t make the film any better. The only one who manages to stand out is Steve Buscemi, who lends his voice to the crazy rabbit who won’t stop trying to kill himself although he knows he’s immortal. The voice cast also includes Jay Leno, John Cleese and Molly Shannon.

Freaky quote: “Yes, master!" – John Cusack

The final word: I walked into “Igor” expecting to be surprised and entertained, but only a few minutes into the movie, I started to realize that I would have probably found more pleasure in staying at home and taking a nap. Falling asleep on a couch still is more comfortable that dozing off in a cinema chair.              

Article by Franck Tabouring