The Iron Giant is highly entertaining, with humor aimed at both kids and adults alike. Set in the ’50s, it’s very anti-gun (“guns kill”) and a little severe on the military and government secret agencies (they are the bad guys in this film), but it also deals insightfully with death and spiritual issues. After the boy and his new friend witness hunters kill a deer, the boy explains that death is bad, but that it is also a part of life. His mother has taught him that “souls don’t die, they go on forever.” Suggesting both filmmatic and thematic ideas from The Day The Earth Stood Still and King Kong, The Iron Giant is smart, funny, and exciting.