The First Footage of Brad Bird's RAY GUNN Teases an Awesome Sci-Fi Noir Adventure - Footage Description
I’m a huge fan of Brad Bird. This is the guy who gave us The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles, he's such a great filmmaker and storyteller, and he next film, But Ray Gunn, feels like a different kind of event.
This is a project Bird has been developing in one form or another for decades, and after years of delays and uncertainty, it's finally headed to Netflix on December 18.
During San Diego Comic-Con's Hall H presentation, Bird gave fans their first real look at the film by screening its opening seven minutes, and this movie looks awesome! The footage got me pumped up for what’s coming!
Ray Gunn isn't just another animated adventure, it’s a stylish sci-fi detective story that just happens to be animated.
The footage throws viewers straight into a mission involving private investigator Ray, voiced by Sam Rockwell, and his unusual partner Eye-ra, played by Tom Waits. Eye-ra is a one-eyed green alien with spider-like legs, which, in this futuristic world, somehow makes him the perfect candidate to stroll through security unnoticed.
Disguised as a janitor, Eye-ra pushes a supply cart into a massive skyscraper before riding an elevator nearly 800 stories into the sky. The ride apparently feels less like an elevator and more like one of those carnival attractions that pins you against the wall with centrifugal force.
Once they arrive, Eye-ra opens the cart to reveal Ray hidden inside. The pair sneaks into an office where they discover a concealed compartment beneath a desk. Inside is the file they've been searching for, and Eye-ra uses his oversized eye like a camera to photograph the documents.
Before they can make a clean getaway, two jetpack-wearing aliens arrive looking for the same information. Ray and Eye-ra duck into a closet while the newcomers begin searching the room. Moments later, another visitor crashes the party.
Vanzine enters, a towering alien who reportedly resembles Oogie Boogie wearing a dress. She immediately realizes someone has already stolen the files and threatens to open fire unless the thief steps forward. Instead of waiting, she starts blasting, accidentally hitting one of the jetpack intruders hiding behind a curtain.
From there, everything erupts into a fast-paced action sequence. The closet Ray and Eye-ra are hiding in is destroyed, forcing them into the open.
Vanzine recognizes Ray, and the two end up pointing guns at each other while trading jokes about her brand-new dress, which conceals several extra arms. She believes Ray won't shoot her. Ray is convinced she'll shoot him, so he fires first, hitting one of her arms.
The fight escalates as Vanzine reveals all of her hidden limbs before Ray finally gains the upper hand by trapping her head inside a block of ice using an industrial-strength air conditioner.
Even then, Ray isn't interested in leaving her to die. As he heads out, he realizes she can't breathe, so he turns around and repeatedly smashes the ice until she can breathe again before making his escape.
What's especially interesting is that this entire sequence is simply the movie's opening scene. Audiences still don't know who the stolen documents belong to, what larger mystery is unfolding, or how any of it connects to the rest of the story. Instead, the footage is all about establishing the world and introducing its personality.
And that's where Ray Gunn really stands out. Despite featuring bizarre alien creatures and futuristic technology, the movie seems to play much more like a classic detective thriller rather than a family-focused animated film.
The world has a playful personality without undercutting the tension. It has the confidence of a noir mystery wrapped inside a visually inventive science fiction universe.
If Bird can sustain that energy across the full film, Ray Gunn could end up being one of the most original animated movies we've seen in years. After waiting decades for this passion project to finally come together, these first seven minutes suggest it may have been worth every bit of that wait.
Ray Gunn arrives on Netflix on December 18, and after Comic-Con, it's officially one of my most anticipated movies of the year.