BELIEVE in yourself and you can be anything you want to be. This is the premise of Igor, a classic monster movie with a hilarious twist.
It tells the story of Igor (John Cusack), the hunchback, who is sick of being a lab assistant. But in a world of mad scientists and crazy inventions, anything can happen. Igor, thus, believes in the impossible — of becoming an evil scientist someday.
Each year, the Malaria kingdom hosts the annual “Evil Science Fair”, showcasing inventions created by its 13 scientists. The evil scientists have it all — fame, fortune and needless to say, women. Igor craves all that too.
Secretly, he created his own experimental inventions — Scamper (Steve Buscemi) and Brain (Sean Hayes) — who become his sidekicks. When his cruel master Dr Glickenstien (John Cleese) dies accidentally, Igor finally gets his chance. Keeping his master’s demise a secret, Igor with the help of Scamper (a funny rabbit with suicidal tendencies) and Brain (who is not so brainy), set about creating the most evil invention ever.
Time is not on his side though as he only has a week to work on his creation. When Eva, the so-called ferocious huge monster, is finally constructed, it doesn’t turn out the way Igor had hoped for. Instead, Eva, the gentle giant, aspires to be an actress.
At the risk of revealing too much, Igor later stumbles upon evil scientist Dr Schadenfreude’s (Izzard) plan to dethrone the present King and decides to take matters into his own hands.
If anything, Igor gives hope to those who think they are nobodies. That heroes come in all shapes and sizes. That being “handicapped” does not mean you are doomed for life. That if you truly believe in something, you can accomplish it.
Metaphorically-speaking, director Tony Leondis’ take on the kingdom of Malaria can be likened to an office or a country. It is about what the world has become today with references to office and world politics. For example, Dr Schadenfreude will do anything to achieve his ends.
Eva represents hope in the movie. The fact that she doesn’t have a bad bone in her is commendable. Good things can come in unlikely packages.
