With the wake of this years Academy Awards lapping at my feet, I’ve been treated to another reminder that for a self-considered movie buff, there are a lot of good movies that I have not had a chance to watch yet. One of these unviewed films that has haunted me for years is The Iron Giant. For an animated feature, it has pretty much combined three of my favorite things, Giant Robots, Vin Diesel and Nuclear Paranoia. It’s really hard to top that sort of triple threat in my book.

So finally, I managed to find the time to sit down and watch a movie that had a potential to usurp the best animated film spot that Wall-E currently holds in my own personal life-long Oscars. As soon as I pressed play I was not disappointed… at least for the first 81 minutes. I’ll try my best not to mention any specific spoilers, but the ending of The Iron Giant lacks…. consequence. For those who have seen the film, I’m talking about a certain something in Iceland.

             While I can understand this being a choice to help parent deal with their tearful children, it was made at a huge detriment to the overall movie. It is the equivalent to Nemo finding not only his dad, but his miraculously alive mother, or of Bambi’s not-dead mom making an appearance at the end. There is a reason writer’s usually avoid a deus ex machine ending.

            It is especially a shame for a movie that presents important themes like self-control and the damage of paranoia to go out like this. When the audience is treated to the cinematic equivalent of a “just kidding” message, your thematic messaging gets thrown to the wind.

            Sadly, the ending of the Iron Giant reminded me specifically of the abomination that was X-Men 3. At that end of that movie, the conclusion basically was that the mutant vaccine that the plot was totally centered on didn’t actually work, and that Professor X was still alive. So, with the exception of the two most annoying characters being killed off, nothing really happened over the entire course of the disastrous film.

            Please don’t take me for someone who demands that all stories end with gut-wrenching tragedy which always succeeds in making kids cry. Parent’s have enough work as it is. I adored Wall-E even with its memory-restoring “kiss”.

I guess my real problem lies with how blatant and explicit the ending is. There is no mystery left when the credits roll, the proverbial kimono is opened up for all to see. Which isn’t good considering that self-exposure isn’t an ideal feature for a movie marketed to children. Where other films give room for the audience’s imagination, The Iron Giant forces it’s specific and somewhat awkward ending upon the viewer. Instead of leaving a memorable ending for us, we were left with a justification for a sequel that is unlikely to see the light of day.