Ray Gunn

Brad Bird is one of the biggest names in animation, responsible for all-time classics like The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. In the early ’90s, before any of these films existed, Bird first imagined Ray Gunn. It’s taken more than 30 years for Bird’s passion project to become a reality. It was worth the wait.

Ray Gunn throws us into a stunning retro-futuristic world of Metropia, full of impossibly sky-high buildings and flying cars, where aliens live alongside humans. Ray (Sam Rockwell) works as a private eye, specialising in ‘discreet investigations’ with his partner Eye-Ra (a brilliant Tom Waits, whose gravelly voice lends perfectly to his characters weariness). Despite Eyera’s warning that ‘we’re months away from being able to afford ethics’, Ray’s stringent moral code makes staying afloat in the city a challenge. That commitment to doing what’s right gives him a job that could change everything: protecting ultra-popular pop star Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson).

It’s a job that proves to be no small feat, especially as the bodies start piling up. Ray Gunn is a super satisfying gumshoe caper, moving along at breakneck pace. The characters, especially Eyera, are winsome. Ray makes a fun detective, Venus delivers a slick twist on the femme fatale, while the villainous Francis (Matt Berry) is like a combination of Sydney Greenstreet in The Maltese Falcon and Jabba the Hutt. Bird’s sense of adventure is on display here, and his script (co-written with Matthew Robbins) is well-layered, giving every little thing that gets introduced in the story an eventual purpose, including a thrilling set-piece involving the elevators that travel hundreds of floors in every giant skyscraper. 

A long-gestating idea come to fruition in electrifying fashion

It’s in those big action scenes that Ray Gunn shines brightest. Bird combines inventive weaponry, fun character designs and exhilarating fight choreography to give us one memorable battle after another. 

There are plenty of fun nods to classic Hollywood, including a character clearly inspired by Peter Lorre, and film posters that feature amalgamated names of stars like ‘Frank Kelly’ and ‘Gina Gable’. One of Ray Gunn’s great joys is spending time in these detailed worlds. The story itself doesn’t quite match the visual creativity: plot twists can be seen from a mile off, and it plays things too safe too often. Regardless, it’s wonderful to see a long-gestating film come to fruition in electrifying fashion.

In cinemas worldwide Dec 4. On Netflix Dec 18.