I wasn’t particularly excited about Ray Gunn, but then I saw the trailer

Brad Bird has been trying to make his retro-futuristic detective story, Ray Gunn, for more than 30 years. After watching the first trailer, I am officially suddenly excited.

I love Brad Bird films, but I must admit, Ray Gunn wasn’t particularly high on my list of things I am massively excited about. The Incredibles 3 is on that list for example, but somehow his supposed dream project largely passed me by.

But then Netflix released an awesome first trailer and I’m suddenly damned eager.

Ray Gunn is an animated science-fiction detective film that takes place in a vast retro-futuristic city filled with mile-high skyscrapers, flying cars, aliens, robots and ray guns. It also features a classic noir-esque old-fashioned private detective in a trench coat.

I am a sucker for almost every word of the previous paragraph. But my excitement was further piqued when Bird described the idea in an interview as: “The Maltese Falcon meets Buck Rogers.” Again, good words.

Brad Bird has been trying to make this film for 30 years

In case you don’t know anything about Brad Bird, he is the director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles 1 & 2, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Tomorrowland and others. He’s consistently good, and especially talented when it comes to animation.

Apparently, he had the idea for Ray Gunn even before he directed The Iron Giant in 1999. Apparently, he developed it with screenwriter Matthew Robbins, but it never got made and eventually spent years gathering dust at Warner Bros.

Since developing the script, he has clearly had a pretty successful time. And the idea never went away. So now, finally, Skydance Animation and Netflix have given him the chance to make it.

Hopefully it’s good.

The future, as imagined in 1939

The film takes place in Metropia, which is described as an alternate future as people in 1939 might have imagined it.

There are enormous Art Deco skyscrapers, flying cars, strange aliens, jet packs and robots. Everyone is surrounded by futuristic technology while still dressing and behaving like Humphrey Bogart at his chain-smoking noir-detective peak. It looks great.

Raymond Gunn, voiced by Sam Rockwell, is a private detective who already seems a bit out of date in his own world. Much of the tedious work once done by investigators can now apparently be handled by tiny robots called “pry bots”, but Gunn is still doing things the old-fashioned way.

Things become more complicated when Gunn gets involved with Venus Nova, a famous and controversial star voiced by Scarlett Johansson. From there, he gets dragged into a murder case and all sorts of shenanigans in the less glamorous parts of Metropia.

His partner is a one-eyed alien called Eyera, voiced by Tom Waits. There are also voices from Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Alan Tudyk and Patton Oswalt, among others.

It’s a cool cast.

The retro sci-fi pulp noir thing is great

I love Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel and DC as much as the next open-minded sci-fi fan, but even I sometimes yearn for decent stuff that tries something new or goes for a different aesthetic.

And this looks different.

There are obviously a billion influences, as acknowledged by Bird himself with his Maltese Falcon and Buck Rogers comment. There’s clearly a lot of pulp – both the 40s detective version and science fiction. Raymond Chandler meets Flash Gordon kind of thing. Plus a bit of cyberpunk.

Also – and this could just be my simple brain connecting period 40s noir with animation – but I got slight ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ vibes too. That could just be me, though.

It feels slightly more grown up

I like that Bird seems to be going for something a bit more grown-up that isn’t directly a family movie. It probably is, a bit, but it’s clear there’s a lot more directed at adults.

Bird has repeatedly said in interviews that he wants people to stop thinking of animation as a genre rather than a medium. Ray Gunn might be the way he pushes that idea. I hope so, as I’ve always thought science fiction is perfect for animation. And it’s getting cheaper to do now.

Anyway, I have waffled enough. I think this looks really promising.

Ray Gunn gets a limited theatrical release on December 4, including selected 70mm screenings, before arriving on Netflix on December 18. Enjoy.