“Ray Gunn” key art featuring Venus Nova (voice of Scarlett Johansson) and Raymond Gunn (voice of Sam Rockwell)
Netflix
Brad Bird’s upcoming Netflix movie Ray Gunn, starring the voices of Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson, is winning raves from Rotten Tomatoes’ critics in early reviews of the animated adventure.
Ray Gunn, which marks the first release from Bird as a director since Incredibles 2 in 2018, held its world premiere at the London Film Festival on Saturday. The film, which will have a limited 70mm theatrical release on Dec. 4, will begin streaming on Netflix on Dec. 18.
Ray Gunn is set in the gigantic city of Metropia in an alternate future that has a retro vibe reminiscent of 1939. It’s there where a private detective, Raymond Gunn (Rockwell) is drawn into a murder investigation involving aliens and Venus Nova (Johansson), who is a multimedia star.
Produced by Skydance Animation, Ray Gunn also stars the voices of Tom Waites, Alan Tudyk, Matt Berry, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Rodriguez and John Ratzenberger.
Currently, Ray Gunn has earned a 90% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer based on 29 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus is still pending, while the film’s Audience Summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings won’t be available until the film’s release in December.
The RT critics’ score for Ray Gun is on par with Bird’s previous animated films. The Incredibles (2004) currently ranks No. 1 among Bird’s animated features with a 97% “fresh” critics’ score on RT, followed by 2007’s Ratatouille (96%), 1999’s The Iron Giant (96%) and Incredibles 2 (93%).
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Ray Gunn’?
Drew Taylor of The Wrap is among the top critics on RT who give Ray Gunn a “fresh” score, writing, “It’s a doozy — as zippy and imaginative and full of ideas as Bird’s very best work, a visually stunning, thematically rich masterpiece that pushes the boundaries of Western animation with wit and verve.”
Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian is also a fan of Ray Gunn. Bradshaw writes in his “fresh” RT review summary, “This animation is smart, witty, humane: a fantasy spectacular with old-fashioned entertainment values and some amazing cityscape design showcasing a beguiling and sweet romance.”
While Guy Lodge of Variety has some issues with Ray Gunn, he still awards the film a “fresh” score on RT, writing, “It’s never quite as funny as it should be, while its characters want for texture and soul … These aren’t fatal shortfalls: There are more than enough visual and sonic delights here to compensate. But they are surprising ones from Bird.”
Ray Gunn also earns a “fresh” score from Mashable critic Kristy Puchko, who writes in her RT review summary, “Ray Gunn is a compelling mash-up of influences that make for a terrifically fun movie sure to entertain kids and parents alike.”
Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood Daily also deems Ray Gunn “fresh” on RT, writing, “No matter what the inspirations, and there were clearly many, they all come from cinema and that’s a delicious thing here.”
Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter is among RT’s top critics to give the film a “rotten” score. Han writes in her RT review summary, “Ray Gunn, Netflix’s new Skydance Animation feature from Pixar alum Brad Bird, is not special. It’s a blandly palatable jumble of sci-fi and neo-noir clichés, not so much awful as underwhelming.”
Screen International critic Wendy Ide also gives Ray Gunn a “rotten” score on RT, writing, “The amount of thought and painstaking care which has gone into every visual aspect is evident throughout in the strikingly coherent vision. The screenplay, on the other hand, feels labored and inert.”
Rated PG, Ray Gunn opens in select theaters on Dec. 4 before it begins streaming on Netflix on Dec. 18.
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