Ray Gunn (2026)- BFI London Film Festival 2026

Review

119min

Genre:       Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Family, Mystery, Sci-fi

Director:    Brad Bird

Cast:         Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Waits…and more

Writers:     Brad Bird and Matthew Robbins

-Synopsis-

In the giant futuristic city of “Metropia”—a huge urban centre dominated by technology where immigrant extra-terrestrial aliens of every kind uncomfortably co-exist with the ruling humans—a down-on-his-luck jaded private investigator takes a job keeping a notorious diva and beguiling music superstar out of trouble, only to be drawn into a murder mystery and find that nothing is as it seems, getting pulled into a power conspiracy and criminal caper where dangerous truths will be revealed.

After nearly three decades making his mark on big screen animation and establishing himself as one of the biggest names in the genre with modern classics like ‘The Iron Giant’ and ‘Ratatouille’, writer/director/producer Brad Bird returns to fulfil an ambition over 30 years in the making and jumps ship from Disney to Skydance and Netflix, turning to multiple influences from Hollywood history and his own 2004 smash hit ‘The Incredibles’ to create a delightful, genre-blending retro-futurist animated neo-noir family sci-fi detective adventure to remember.

Sam Rockwell stars as the voice of hard-boiled plucky Metropia private eye “Ray Gunn”, a shrewd but unlucky gumshoe with a past and last of a dying breed, struggling to pay the bills and keep his agency afloat alongside his trusty partner “Eye-Ra” (Tom Waits), a multiple-limbed gruff and loyal green alien with special abilities, both veteran trench-coated P.I.s looking for a lucrative case when a web of intrigue and deceit forms around notorious diva “Venus Nova” (Scarlett Johansson)—a beguiling and mysterious but fiery superstar songstress and multimedia maven with a murky past and trouble brewing around her. As they’re hired by her manipulative manager “Barry Vogel” (Alan Tudyk) to keep her out of trouble before a big album launch, only to get caught up in a shadowy murder leading to a cloudy conspiracy which pulls in the city’s alien underworld boss “Francis “Slugsy” Xavier” (Matt Berry) and his goons, as they all head towards a clash which will unravel a big power grab and reveal deeply buried secrets.

With three decades to contemplate how to make his dream project and with his initial idea of “‘The Maltese Falcon’ meets ‘Buck Rogers’” to play with, it’s clear from the start that Bird is pulling from and blending multiple eras and genres of Hollywood when it comes to the style, narrative and characters in ‘Ray Gunn’. The film is packed with both overt and subtle nods to everything from ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘The Fifth Element’ to the ‘Star Wars’ prequels and ‘The Jetsons’ plus a bit of ‘Alien Nation’, all built on the foundations of Golden Age Hollywood detective noir.

The result of this potpourri of influences is a rich, splendidly designed and colourfully realised world with a retro-futurist aesthetic, no doubt inspired by Bird’s own modern classic ‘The Incredibles’ and everything from ‘The Rocketeer’ to ‘Mars Attacks!’, featuring everything from flying cars and jet packs to lightning fast lifts and space age weapons—especially teleporting guns—plus any number of eccentric and unpredictable gadgets, all serving the citizens of a high-tech, neon-lit high-rise metropolis that never stops or sleeps. The characters meanwhile are no less striking and vibrant, featuring sleek and elegantly designed humans juxtaposed with the colourful wackiness of an array of aliens who wouldn’t look out of place in a ‘Star Wars’ cantina or a ‘Looney Tunes’ basketball team.

On this fantastical canvas Bird & co. paint plenty of action and intrigue to delight the audience, with ‘Ray Gunn’ featuring loads of shootouts, car chases and brawls, plus plenty of sleuthing and shadow play and even some romance that’s fit for the family, all infused with copious comedy throughout including slapstick, pop culture references and clever quips—as Skydance and their distributing partners here Netflix try to take a bite out of Disney٠Pixar. Meanwhile the mood of the film is set and its energy boosted by a sumptuous, grand and atmospheric traditional full symphonic score from American composer and regular Disney collaborator Michael Giacchino (Zootropolis, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), combined with original songs for the film’s pop superstar Venus Nova written by Kiwi singer-songwriter Kimbra.

Yet beneath the undeniable pure entertainment value and the stylish skin of this delightful crowd-pleaser, ‘Ray Gunn’ has a surprising amount to say about our own society today. As Bird and his co-writer Matthew Robbins combine a meditation on xenophobia and classism with a warning tale about privacy and surveillance, artistic fakery and A.I., plus corporate corruption and greed and the dangers of giant media conglomerates controlling the narrative—which is a bit of timely irony coming from a Paramount-Skydance production given their recent controversial acquisition Warner Bros. Discovery for $110.9 billion—yet all the social messaging is fairly subtle and never ham-fisted, seldomly getting in the way of the escapist entertainment and always befitting a fun family flick.

The final piece of the ‘Ray Gunn’ puzzle is of course the eclectic voice talents of the cast who bring all the colourful characters to life, with the dependably excellent Sam Rockwell deftly leading the line as the titular smooth street-smart but slightly hapless private eye with a past and a strong moral compass, while Scarlett Johansson is well cast and appropriately skilled as the film’s troublesome, mysterious and alluring superstar pop diva femme fatale with a big secret. But it’s the supporting characters who add most of the colour and comedy to the piece, epitomised by Tom Waits lending his legendary voice to Gunn’s gruff and devoted wisecracking green P.I. partner who steals many a scene and proves the heart of the piece, while Matt Berry’s unique voice talents lead the antagonist line as the city’s hilariously larger-than-life yet surprisingly layered alien mob boss.

The Bottom Line…

A stylish and rich animated retro-futurist sci-fi neo-noir triumph, with ‘Ray Gunn’ Brad Bird underlines his reputation as a modern animation giant by cleverly blending multiple eras worth of Hollywood inspiration and packing them with humour and heart to deliver a delightfully droll detective sci-fi family adventure to remember, helping Paramount Skydance and Netflix take a big bite out of Disney and potentially sparking a new big screen animation war.

‘Ray Gunn’ is out in selected cinemas on the 4th of December and streams on Netflix from the 18th of December.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Incredibles (2004)

A family of former superheroes living the quiet suburban life are forced back into action to stop an ingeniously evil super-villain, all while juggling family commitments and working through personal issues in this all-action and comedy-packed animation from Disney-Pixar.

Directed by Brad Bird and starring Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter among others.

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