Igor: DVD, Blu-ray Review (2009)

Directed by Tony Leondis, written by Chris McKenna, 86 minutes, rated PG.

The new computer-animated movie, “Igor,” is set within the land of Malaria, and as bad luck would have it, the film itself feels as if it were written and conceived under the haze of some unwanted, lingering malaise.

Tony Leondis directs from Chris McKenna’s script, and what they bring to the screen is a movie that blatantly recalls the animated style championed by Tim Burton in such films as “James and the Giant Peach” and “A Nightmare Before Christmas,” but which fails to bring a satisfying story to bolster that animation.

The best part of the movie is, in fact, the animation--it’s an odd world of menace and wackery tossed around a whole lot of tomfoolery. Also strong is the voice talent, which is led by John Cusack as Igor, a hunchback who slaves for a buffoonish master scientist named Dr. Glickenstein (John Cleese), but whose own creativity is stifled by a system that refuses to embrace it.

Worse for Igor is that he lacks individuality. Instead of being Malaria’s only Igor, he’s actually one of many, all of whom are treated as third-rate citizens in a bizarro world occluded by oppression and also a depressing covering of clouds.

For reasons that won’t be revealed here, the sun never shines in Malaria, which casts a gloom over a movie whose cinematography has the chilly hues of a corpse. For flashes of color, the film turns to its screwball characters, such as Igor’s failed experiments--an immortal rabbit named Scamper (Steve Buscemi), who tries to commit suicide throughout (tough to blame him), and Brain (Sean Hayes), who lives in a jar and isn’t exactly a child of MENSA.

When Dr. Glickenstein unexpectedly offs himself due to an experiment gone awry, Igor finally is able to realize his full potential. He does so by building Eva (Molly Shannon), a giant Frankenstein-like she-monster who Igor plans to put forth as his entry into Malaria’s Evil Science Fair. Trouble is, as frightening as Eva looks, she’s actually rather sweet. Worse for Igor is that she doesn’t want to be evil so much as wants to be a stage actress.

Some will argue whether there’s a difference, but I digress. For villains, the movie chooses Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) and his cruel minx of a girlfriend, Jacylyn (Jennifer Coolidge, whose marvelous, warbling voice is its own special effect), who can turn into any number of creatures with the mere pop of a pill.

What it all adds up to is, well, a whole lot of nothing. The trouble with “Igor” is that it doesn’t just lacks laughs, but it also lacks action--there are long stretches where you realize a better title for this baby would have been “Ibore.” While it’s true that there is a nicely twisted bit at the end that involves Eva pulling an Annie on the world in the weirdest rendition of “Tomorrow” you’ll ever see or hear (if the movie had been this insane throughout, we might have had something here), the film otherwise is little more than a string of uninspired gimmicks attached to some worn-out genre cliches.

Grade: C-