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Igor (2008)

PULL THE SWITCH! — Written by Freudianspud on 23.01.2010

'Igor' tells us the story of the hunchbacked henchman Igor (John Cusack) who assists Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese) in creating evil inventions. The story takes place in a place called Malaria, which is plagued by dark clouds. Thanks to these clouds, the town doesn't get any visitors which means that there isn't a lot of profit to be made, until the king of Malaria (Jay Leno) comes up with a plan in which evil scientists have to build evil machines. He then threatens the world to unleash said machines unless the world pays Malaria a sufficient fee.

Of course, Igor isn't your regular igor. Even though he is Glickenstein's assistent, he has some ideas of his own. He'd like to e an evil scientist as well. Some of his previous inventions include Scamper (Steve Buscemi), a suicidal, yet indestructible bunny and Brain (Sean Hayes), a not so bright brain in a jar.
Of course, he doesn't actually get a chance to invent because igors are considered an expendable workforce and generally retarded. But, the movie wouldn't be much if it ended at that, so in an experiment Dr. Glickenstein kicks the bucket and it's up to Igor to build the evil invention for that year's Evil Invention Convention, so he decides to create the ultimate of evil inventions: life.
This news comes as a big shock to the story's bad guy, Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard), who has won all the conventions so far and is planning to overthrow the king with his next evil invention. The thing is, he has never actually invented anything, he stole everything from the other scientists.
Naturally, this leads to a lot of funny moments, with the bunny and the brain in the jar as an extra comedic relief, but there's also a love story in there, even though it's played out pretty straight forward.

All in all it's a fun film to watch, thanks to the performances of all the voice actors. Some of the supporting cast really adds to the feel, like Jennifer Coolidge (Better known as Stifler's Mom, to many), who voices Schadenfreude's assistant and Molly Shannon (All-round cameo performer) as Eva, the evil invention of Igor.

The animation isn't as much as you'd expect from pixar but fits the story perfectly. You often get awkward movements or expressions in characters when a new animation company brings out a film (Monster House is a nice example of an entertaining film with a great voice cast, but still the animation comes off pretty unnatural), but Igor pulls it off with the greatest of ease. The jokes are kind of predictable from time to time, but that doesn't mean they're any less entertaining. Also, Eddie Izzard's performance as the bad guy is one to remember. Definitely a must-see for those who like to keep an eye on animation.

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