Shadows on the Wall

Ray Gunn

dir Brad Bird
scr Brad Bird, Matthew Robbins
prd John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Lisa Beroud, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg
voices Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits, Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Chernus, Buck Chavez, Kether Donohue, Michelle Rodriguez, Aasif Mandvi, Brad Bird
release US/UK 4.Dec.26
26/US Skydance 1h59

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Refreshingly, this animated noir mystery is made for grown-up audiences who enjoy twisty plotting and messy characters. It's a logical next step for gifted filmmaker Brad Bird, whose Incredibles movies have a more childish retro-future vibe. This one takes its sci-fi cues from 1940s art deco designs, with a story that has big themes woven through the fabric of every scene. And yes, it looks and sounds gorgeous.

Holding onto his principles, private eye Ray (Rockwell) is struggling financially, but he carries on working alongside one-eyed alien sidekick Eye-Ra (Waits). Their new client Arnold (Cannavale) is worried that his pop-star wife Venus (Johansson) is having an affair. But Ray and Eye-Ra discover that there's something else going on here, connected to Venus' body double Levity (Donohue), her manager Barry (Tudyk) and slimy gangster Slugsy (Berry). Perhaps some new alien tech can help Ray and Eye-Ra solve this, if it will stop malfunctioning. The other problem is that Ray finds himself falling for Venus.

In this future America, aliens are second-class citizens, working in service roles and excluded from high society. So Ray's close friendship with Eye-Ra is somewhat transgressive, even as Eye-Ra finds himself saddled with the most thankless jobs as they investigate an increasingly thorny situation. This class system informs a range of issues in the plot, which continually shifts and turns, revealing secrets as it sends the characters in new directions.

And this is a particularly vivid ensemble of characters, voiced with plenty of attitude and soulfulness by an expert cast. They're inventively designed by the animators to colourfully echo classic movie figures while remaining defiantly complex. And they're also very funny. Meanwhile, the settings are packed with details that continually dazzle the eyes, making us want to spend more time in this wildly textured world.

Corporate control of artists is a central theme running through the narrative, as Barry manages Venus' career based on careful manipulation of her image. She knows that she isn't allowed to be herself or sing her own music, which feeds into the fact that she is already on husband number 4. So it's moving to see how Ray is able to address her inner yearning in a way she doesn't expect. This is a surprisingly nice touch for what is otherwise a rather lively action-packed thriller.

themes, language, violence 11.Oct.26

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