'Ray Gunn' Review: Brad Bird's Passion Project Is a Visual Triumph
By Alex Gilston - October 13, 2026
Almost thirty years ago, Warner Bros. acquired Turner Feature Animation. Brad Bird, who was mostly an animator at the time, transferred over to finish out his contract and pitched his project, Ray Gunn, to his new bosses. They ultimately passed on it and handed him the keys to The Iron Giant, and the rest is history, as they say. Since then, he has directed some of the most beloved animated films of all time, The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and also helmed films in some of the biggest franchises, like Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. It is only now, in 2026, that Bird has been able to realise his vision for his decades-old project fully.
What is Ray Gunn about?
Ray Gunn is a neo-noir futuristic mystery film set in the bustling city of Metropia. It follows a Private Eye named Ray Gunn (Sam Rockwell) and his one-eyed alien assistant, Eyera (Tom Waits). He is doing odd jobs to make ends meet, but everything changes when he is approached by the husband of megastar singer Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson). Ray and his colleagues are soon thrust into a twisty murder investigation, including Nova herself.
On the red carpet for the premiere of Ray Gunn director Brad Bird admitted that the idea has remained fairly unchanged since its inception in the 90s, which is incredible to think about, as the themes are just as, if not more, relevant today than they were 30 years ago. The idea that profit should come before artistry and that artistry itself is heading in a direction where it may not need artists at all. It is even more ironic that the film has been released under the production of Skydance Animation, a subsidiary of the newly conglomerated Skydance corporation. Ray Gunn, however, cleverly rejects this idea and advocates for the freedom of artists and therefore art both in narrative and animation.
The animation on show is rich and detailed to a superb extent. It harkens back to Brad Bird’s roots working for Pixar, and it is, to a point, indistinguishable from that Incredibles style of human and architectural design. But here the animation is streamlined and sleek; it is equivalent to upgrading to a new model of phone or car. There were many moments where it felt like the animators were just showing off. In the opening scene, Ray and Eyera are secretly casing an office. They fiddle about with the desk to find a secret opening and lo and behold the middle of the desk opens up and there is a recess in it hiding some files. When this secret compartment opens, a coffee cup falls into the recess. In the grand scheme of things, it seems unnecessary, but it is this attention to detail in the animation that makes Ray Gunn all the more charming.
Ray Gunn does struggle narratively. The twists can be seen from a mile off, and the resolution wasn’t out of the rear-view mirror (this coming from a person who is usually rubbish at murder mysteries). One particular aspect of the narrative is even more glaring than the others, relying on the voice-acting capabilities of Scarlett Johansson. There is a distinction that needs to be made, and she struggles to catch and run away with it. If she were more successful, the mysteries of Ray Gunn may have been harder to crack.
Despite the narrative let-down, Ray Gunn is a beautiful artist-led film that sees a director bring his long time vision to the screen. Even if Ray Gunn were just for Brad Bird, it would be a complete success, but as is the case, we get the privilege of joining him for the ride.
'Ray Gunn' releases on Netflix on December 18, 2026.
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Alex Gilston
Senior Writer
Alex is a film critic, and self confessed Disney expert. His passion for film is huge, so to be able to write and talk about them is a personal dream of his.
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