Ray Gunn, 2026.
Directed by Brad Bird.
Starring Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez, Matt Jones, Aasif Mandvi, Alan Tudyk, and Kathryn Hunter.
SYNOPSIS:
In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future, private eye Raymond Gunn is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder, and a multimedia star named Venus Nova.
Brad Bird’s last three films have been The Incredibles 2, Tomorrowland, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and it’s fair to say that his long-overdue return to the world of animated feature-films with Ray Gunn is a giddy mix of all the best ingredients found in those movies; daring do action executed by an ensemble of memorable characters, all set against the backdrop of a future world that’s flecked with a rundown present-day aesthetic. However, the biggest compliment can be found in its most obvious comparison, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? You have a down-on-his-luck detective who does things the old-school way, who gets caught up in a city-wide mystery that has a fawned-over singer at the heart of it.
Our gumshoe here is the titular Ray Gunn (Sam Rockwell), a private investigator who puts his morals above the money, much to the chagrin of his grizzle associate Eye-Ra Kadok (Tom Waits), who spends his time wrestling with bailiffs to keep them from taking all of the furniture from the office, which also happens to double-up as a bedroom for the dishevelled detective. Their luck changes when they’re hired to snap photos of Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson), a world famous pop-star with a predilection for controversy, the fallout from which triggers a film-spanning edge-of-the-seat adventure that’s a triumphant delight from start-to-finish.
The world-building is like something from the mind of Billy’s father in Gremlins, by way of Syd Mead’s production design from the ’82 Blade Runner. Metropia is a place where the past and the future collide, peppered with warnings about the invasive use of advertising and algorithms, a place where endlessly tall skyscrapers with elevators that you have to strap yourself into like a terrifying theme park ride are architecturally juxtaposed with street-level stores from a bygone era.
All of these creative design details feed into the story. When our detectives visit a speakeasy weapons shop it results in some delightful Men In Black-style gadget gags, with a particular blaster gun integral to the plot, while also providing plenty of laughs with its body-morphing effect. The aforementioned elevator is the scene of one of Ray Gunn‘s many inventive action set-pieces, as Ray battles some hired goons, constantly stop-starting the carriage as it zooms up 200 floors. It’s both exciting and hilarious, which is praise that can be applied to the film as a whole.
Add to that a thrilling opening heist scene, a flying car-chase reminiscent of Revenge of the Sith‘s sky traffic, and most impressive of all, a zero-gravity dance sequence in which Ray and Venus float from the chaos for a bit. It’s here that the sweet heart of the film can be found, because for all of the whizz-bang spectacle of Ray Gunn, it’s memorable for the characters and those bringing them to life. The will-they-wont-they-of-course-they-will Bogart and Bacall love-story is predictable, but it’s elevated with Old-Hollywood chemistry between Rockwell and Johansson, so you get swept up in it all.
He’s a square-jawed sad-sack armed with a moral compass and Rockwell’s signature wit and charm, while Johansson is a chameleon, playing Venus as a prima donna one minute, and then a Lois Lane-alike armed with whip-smart sass the next. She also afforded the opportunity to flex her pipes on a couple of occasions, to catchy effect. Together the two are dynamite, and get you thinking that in this age of Academy Awards for stunt work, surely we’re overdue recognition for animated voice work?
Also in that conversation would be Tom Waits as Ray’s embattled tripod sidekick. All beatdown grizzled resignation at his place in this life. Him being an alien provides another real-world parallel to Ray Gunn, and the veteran actor imbues him with a level of emotion to match the wisecracks.
There’s a boundless energy to Bird’s retro-sci-fi noir that fires up like a jet-pack and shoots for the moon, but none of it would be worth a damn were it not for Rockwell and Johansson’s heart-swelling performances. Over three-decades in the making, let’s hope we don’t have to wait as long for a sequel.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Rodgers – Follow me on Twitter
