The Iron Giant (1999)

Based on Ted Hughes' 1968 novel The Iron Man: A Children's Story in Five Nights, it tells of a friendship between a spirited nine-year-old youth named Hogarth and a fifty-foot iron giant from space who eats metal, which is an activity that doesn't go unnoticed by the townspeople. When a busybody federal agent begins snooping around, believing the visitor to be a foreign threat, he causes more problems than he had intended to solve.

The 1957 setting has a wonderfully rich aesthetic, populated with well-fleshed out secondary characters, purposeful cold-war caricatures that personify governmental paranoia and coercion, and many loving nods to 'atomic age' science-fiction movies. Crucially, beneath its era-specific strengths is an inspiring emotional layer that's uplifting and unquestionably timeless.

5 duck + cover sirens out of 5

TOMORROWLAND [2015]

Director Brad Bird's second live-action feature Tomorrowland is a breath of fresh air in a world of sequels, prequels, adaptations and reboots.
Unfortunately the lively sci-fi blockbuster doesn't quite add up to a whole lot once you peel away it's shiny skin.
By telling the tale of a young girl and a broken man who embark on a journey to find a futuristic world they've both visited in memories, Bird & screenwriter Damon Lindelof dissect the negative world that we live in.  They push the viewer into wanting to bring a positive outlook on life to make the world a better place but it's so heavy-handed one can't help but roll their eyes.  There's some wildly imaginative action sequences and beautiful visuals but they trounce all over the heart that should make the story more easier to side with.
It raises some questions and makes some strong statements while being throughly entertaining, so maybe it did exactly what it set out to do.

3 pintresting tubby times out of 5

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL [2011]

The Incredibles and Ratatouille director Brad Bird dives right into his first live action film with the fourth installment of the popular Mission: Impossible franchise.

With the help of J.J. Abrams & Tom Cruise serving as producers and a highly entertaining cast including Simon Pegg, Jeremy Renner & Michael Nyqist, Bird flies high on this absurd yet tightly paced popcorn action flick.  Utilizing his animator's eye, Bird's use of the visual space and color is hardly ever wasted. Even the brilliantly inconceivable climax comes off as an action piece from a Pixar film.  Good fun and nothing more.

3½ Missiles headed towards Pixar home offices out of 5