The Iron Giant

THE IRON GIANT (86 mins., G) In this gently fantastical animated feature, the title character is a towering mechanical man who is rescued, in 1957, by a rambunctious boy named Hogarth. The movie transports you back to that moment in the Atomic Age when a simple nuts-and-bolts robot could seem as magical to a kid as anything in science fiction. The giant remains utterly docile until provoked, but when the military honchos arrive, it turns out that he’s both a friend and a weapon — an arsenal of goodness. At times, The Iron Giant is more serene than it needs to be, but it’s a lovely and touching daydream. A-