Igor on Blu-ray Disc Review by Brandon A. DuHamel on BigPictureBigSound

Blu-ray Disc and DVD : Blu-ray Disc Reviews

Published: 2009-02-10 - 16:17:49

Igor on Blu-ray Disc Review

By Brandon A. DuHamel

The Film

Igor purports to be the independent filmmakers' answer to the big Hollywood studios' CG-animated family films. But, what you have in Igor is a film that is confused about its actual mission. Igor starts with a somewhat interesting and unique premise -- the ubiquitous hunchback assistant from the Frankenstein films wants to better himself beyond his lowly station. He strives to become a great, evil scientist himself and gain the respect of the people of Malaria.

When his current employer dies in an evil experiment gone awry, Igor (voiced by John Cusack) seizes the moment to create a monster that will destroy all things and win the land's annual Evil Science Fair. Unfortunately for Igor, his plans don't quite pan out, as he ends up with nothing more than a gentle giant who wants to be an actress, sing show tunes, and wouldn't dream of hurting a fly -- literally.

John Cusack's performance as Igor is somewhat dry, but Steve Buscemi's performance as Igor's self-created sidekick Scamper the suicidal, yet indestructible, rabbit steals nearly every scene. Therein lies one of the problems with Igor, however, as a rabbit with a death wish is hardly the makings of wholesome family entertainment.

Igor owes much of its design style to Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, only it moves out of the more organic world of stop-motion animation and into the world of CG, where it feels flat. Also, without Burton's strong storytelling abilities, Igor ends up being just a run of cultural references to 1930's films and Broadway that will fly right over the heads of kids and probably many adults. It is also too gruesome for many youngsters and too shallow for most adults. So, in essence, what you have here in Igor is a film that is struggling to find its primary demographic.

The Picture

Igor has a dramatic color palette of shadowy hues, drab browns highlighted with a few nearly neon primary colors that pop from the screen. MGM's 1080p/24 AVC/MPEG-4 Blu-ray transfer, which averages ~38Mbps captures the CG animated landscape of Igor and its eye-catching palette quite well. The film's production and appearance mostly belie its limited budget -- minuscule in comparison to the Pixars and DreamWorks of the world -- but there are moments where some aliasing crops up around the edges of characters and that's when you know you're watching an indie production. It is doubtful that that these are a byproduct of the encoding itself and thankfully they occur fairly infrequently.

The Sound

Igor comes with English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 audio options. Igor's DTS-HD MA lossless mix is well done indeed, with an abundance of ambience in the surround channels, good mix of directional foley effects into all the main channels and clear, natural sounding dialogue. Low frequency extension isn't quite what it could have been, so it won't tax your subwoofer, but it sounds weighty enough.

The Extras

Igor is anemic in the area of supplements, with the offering of greatest value being the very meticulous audio commentary from the filmmakers. The Concept Art Galleries also offer a great look into the evolution of the character design, but won't necessarily require multiple viewings.

The extras available on this release are:

Commentary by Director Tony Leondis, Writer Chris McKenna and Producer Max Howard -- This very chatty audio commentary from the filmmakers is quite meticulous on the particulars of Igor's production.
Alternate Opening Scene (1.78:1/high definition)
Concept Art Galleries:

Characters
Set & Production Design
Storyboards
Posters

Final Thoughts

Igor is not on par with the CG-animated productions from Pixar or even DreamWorks for that matter, but it has a unique premise that some kids and families may find moderately entertaining. It may make more sense to pass over this release and go straight to Tim Burton's Corpse Bride or The Nightmare Before Christmas (even if it's not the holidays), but if one must have a look at this release it may be a good idea to rent rather than purchase Igor. This Blu-ray Disc release comes with a competent transfer and pleasing soundmix that everyone should find enjoyable.

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