Any time Brad Bird releases a new movie, we take notice. After making films like The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles, he deserves at least that. But when that new movie is an idea Bird has been thinking about for decades, about a private detective in a futuristic landscape with an alien sidekick, we don’t just take notice. We bustle with excitement.
That movie is called Ray Gunn, and after years of stops, starts, and delays, it’s finally coming from Netflix on December 18. Bird discussed the film in a Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con, with the highlight being a screening of the film’s first seven minutes. And even in those first seven minutes, you get a sense that this is something different and unique. The footage finds Ray (Sam Rockwell) and his alien sidekick Eye-ra (Tom Waits) breaking into a building to get some secret documents. Eye-ra is a one-eyed green alien with spider legs, so, in this world, he of course blends right in. Posing as a janitor, he walks right through security with his supply car and takes a super elevator up almost 800 floors. The sensation is like one of those carnival rides where the centrifugal force sticks you to the wall. Upon exiting, he opens his cart to reveal Ray, who was stuck inside. They break into an office, look around, and realize the desk at the center of the room has a secret latch. Working together, they open it, revealing a file folder. This is what they’re looking for. Eye-ra uses his eye like a camera and gets photos of the documents when they realize there are two creatures on jetpacks flying towards them. They hide in the closet as two other aliens break into the room from outside.
