Ray Gunn is the name of the new animated film from Brad Bird, the hugely talented filmmaker behind The Iron Giant, The Incredibles 1 and 2, Ratatouille and Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol (one of the best in the franchise), so suffice to say the man has talent to spare. After 30 years of dreaming it up, Ray Gunn is about to become a reality, with the film landing on Netflix on 18 December. The first trailer has just dropped, too, and it's absolutely delicious. Time to break it down.
Ray Gunn takes us to a dystopian future with the feel of 1939 America, only technology kept marching on. The result: the city of Metropia, where cars fly, aliens rub shoulders with humans and private eyes still wear their battered film-noir trench coats. It's in this retro-futuristic setting that we meet Raymond Gunn, a private detective (voiced by the underrated Sam Rockwell), who takes on a spying job involving Venus Nova, a media star played by Scarlett Johansson. Naturally, nothing goes to plan, and with his alien colleague Eyera in tow, the case quickly turns into a murder investigation. The trailer promises an adventure packed with action, betrayals and plenty of twists. The film also seems to fully embrace its film-noir roots, with a jaded detective, a femme fatale and a conspiracy to unravel. Mix that sci-fi with a retro aesthetic and you get a film with a very distinct identity, one that hits the mark straight away.
A film stuffed with references
The trailer also shows that Brad Bird intends to have fun with his influences, and some sequences clearly feel like they've escaped from Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. There's a flying-car chase that also brings to mind Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. In short, there'll be no shortage of nods and winks! The animation looks lavish and meticulously crafted too, which leads us to believe the film is aimed more at adults than children. Indeed, Brad Bird explained at the Annecy Festival a few months ago that he hadn't designed Ray Gunn specifically for kids, and had even initially wanted a PG-13 rating. But Netflix made the call and ultimately went with a PG, so the film could reach a wider audience — and even be the family animated film of Christmas.
Who do we thank? Netflix
Ray Gunn is also an unusual project in Brad Bird's career, as the director spent years trying to get it produced, largely in vain, before Netflix finally decided to fund it. The budget is reportedly around $150 million, which is pretty hefty for this sort of project. That said, Brad Bird insists he conceived the film for the big screen, but above all he's grateful that Netflix let him make an original film, something that's becoming increasingly difficult in Hollywood.
Ray Gunn will be available on Netflix on 18 December.
