Brad Bird's new animated feature, Ray Gunn, has drawn two very different verdicts from major critics. The Guardian hailed it as a smart, witty and humane old-school family classic. Variety praised its visual invention but argued that it has more energy than charm.
A noir future with a light touch
Both outlets describe a retro-futurist world that mixes hard-boiled detective tropes with science fiction. The Guardian points to flying cars, moving walkways and hologram billboards, with echoes of Metropolis and Blade Runner. Variety describes a 21st century as it might have been imagined in 1939, full of Art Deco towers, kitsch rented rooms and cars with the long curves of pre-war design.
Sam Rockwell voices Raymond Gunn, a private detective and former cop. Tom Waits plays his alien partner, Eyera (spelled Eye-Ra by Variety), and Scarlett Johansson voices pop superstar Venus Nova. Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk and Matt Berry round out the principal cast. The story begins when Venus's husband Arnold hires Ray, and it grows into a tangle of scandal and murder around her.
Where the critics part ways
The Guardian's review is warm throughout. It calls the film a charming, very enjoyable movie with a big heart, and it singles out the romance between Ray and Venus. It also highlights a club scene with a zero-gravity interlude, and it notes that the film touches on algorithmic advertising and data privacy.
Variety is more guarded. It calls the film a caper first and foremost, rated PG, and a consistently nifty one even when it feels unoriginal. It argues, though, that the jokes land with nods more than laughs and that the characters lack texture. After what it calls a fairly long two hours, it says, viewers are not especially attached to them. Its closing line sums up the complaint:
“Rather like the man himself, ‘Ray Gunn’ has slick, boundless energy and resourcefulness to spare, but that doesn’t quite amount to charm.”
Points of agreement
The reviews overlap on a few things. Both single out the way the film treats prejudice against aliens, including Eyera being barred from a humans-only hospital. Variety calls this a heavy allegory for a breezy story and says the tone hiccups as a result. The Guardian treats it as part of the film's humane streak. Both reviews also say the cityscape design is a highlight, and Variety calls Waits's performance the most affecting in the film.
Variety adds that the songs are by Grammy winner Kimbra and that Michael Giacchino's brassy score makes its preferred era plain. It also suggests that younger viewers may be bewildered by a noir homage, even one that has Who Framed Roger Rabbit? as a touchstone.
For a director whose animated work Variety describes as marked by wit and carefully seeded personal stakes, the split verdict suggests the film will be judged on whether its craft or its heart counts for more.
Reporting sources: Film | The Guardian, “Ray Gunn review – Brad Bird’s animated film-noir sci-fi caper is an old-school family classic” · Variety, “‘Ray Gunn’ Review: Brad Bird’s Latest Animated Feature Is a Giddy Retro-Futurist Noir With More Energy Than Charm”.