In a sea of dull, formulaic animated hits, sadly too many from the Pixar camp, comes the most inventive animated film in years, from the genius mind of Brad Bird, one of the Pixar architects. Ray Gunn is a pure gem, a mash-up of class film noir in the Bogart mold, mixed with retro future sci-fi, superhero-style action, and light-hearted family fare with breathtaking visuals and world building. It’s such a difficult combination that only a few could pull it off, and Bird makes it look easy.
Ray Gunn is a passion project that Bird had been developing for decades, literally predating 1999’s The Iron Giant. You can tell, because there’s such incredible attention to every loving detail. The film is set in Metropia, a retro-future society that’s like The Jetsons meets Zootopia meets Coruscant from the Star Wars movies. It’s a place full of jetpacks, flying cars, and aliens living alongside humans, but this future society isn’t free of discrimination. That has sadly remained. Corruption has also been allowed to flourish, There’s almost nobody and no thing that isn’t corrupted in some way.
One beacon of light is Raymond Gunn, an old school private eye voiced by Sam Rockwell. Not only are his morals decidedly old-fashioned, so are his methods. While technology rules, Ray is all about classic shoeleather techniques; stake outs, phone calls, and direct confrontation. It’s that last point that seems to always get Ray into trouble. He’s always fighting his way out of one jam or another, usually alongside his cyclopean “tripod” alien pal, Eye Ra Kadock, gravelly=voiced by Tom Waits. They’re a little too honest for their own good. Nobody wants to pay for honesty. They’re flat broke, and in desperate need of a case to turn things around.
Ray gets more than he bargained for with pop superstar diva, Venus Nova, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. A classic femme fatale, as beautiful as she is dangerous, Venus has a dangerous secret, and is suspected in the murder of her husband. Par for the course, as she can’t keep herself out of the tabloid to save her life. It’s a problem for Megamax, the massive record company run by her first husband, Barry Vogel, voiced by Alan Tudyk. Ray is hired to keep a close eye on Venus, but he can’t help wanting to know the truth about what’s really going on. He’s just too good of a guy, always wanting to help others in a world of selfishness. “I couldn’t live with myself”, he’d say.
Like the best femme fatales, there are many different sides to Venus, some are more visible than others. Of course, there’s some spark between her and Ray, but also trouble in the form of alien gangster, Slugsy, voiced by Matt Berry, a former friend of Venus’ who wants to get her back in his employ.
The voicework is pitch perfect, starting with Rockwell as the cynical do-gooder, trying to hide his heroic nature behind jokes and a tough exterior. Johansson, as the sultry, possibly murderous pop star, nails the performance, revealing her singing chops in a couple of new Kimbra tracks. Composer Michael Giacchino navigates the fluid genres and tones wonderfully, no easy task as Ray Gunn moves at rocket speed from beginning to end.
Bird touches on a lot of little issues in Ray Gunn, such as the cutthroat nature of the entertainment business, intellectual property rights, privacy, and the attention economy. He makes these points without sacrifcing the propulsive nature of the story. The film is always moving forward and headed in a specific direction. It doesn’t afford you even a moment’s chance to get bored, not that you ever could with so much glorious animation to look at. Ray Gunn is this brilliant amalgamation of the past, present, and future. From Will Eisner’s The Spirit to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Bird and co-writer Matthew Robbins don’t shy away from any of their influences, without letting the film sink too far into nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Ray Gunn is a true achievement in animation, and the rare cinematic event that is more than worth the wait. Bird has made a movie that only he could make like this, and you won’t want to miss it.
Ray Gunn opens in select theaters on December 4th, followed by Netflix on December 18th.
