Ray Gunn review: Brad Bird brings Incredibles energy to his animated noir thriller

Brad Bird makes the case that animation can be for adults with Ray Gunn.

The big-budget film noir comes not from Pixar, where Bird helmed such hits as The Incredibles and Ratatouille , but from Netflix, which won the Best Animated Feature Oscar last winter for KPop Demon Hunters .

To be clear, Bird's latest isn't inappropriate for kids.

Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? , this animated movie with a film noir core could play to children and grown-ups alike.

But it'll be older audience members who can best appreciate the influences Bird is bringing into play in Ray Gunn.

SEE ALSO: Wake Up, Oscars: Animation isn't just for kids What's Ray Gunn about? Credit: Netflix The film, written by Bird and Matthew Robbins, is named for Raymond "Ray" Gunn (voiced by Sam Rockwell), a former police officer who has quit the force to start his own private investigation firm.

But the going is tough, in part because Ray is a shamus so determined to do the right thing that he rejects dirty money.

This high-mindedness is not great news for his partner, an alien named Eye-Ra (Tom Waits).

For one thing, if Ray's not making money, neither is Eye-Ra.

For another, these sleuths live in a futuristic urban landscape where aliens are treated like second-class citizens.

So, Eye-Ra's options aren't as plentiful as his human partner's.

Bird swiftly establishes the hierarchy of Ray Gunn's world with a near wordless introduction, where Eye-Ra slips into an office building with a cleaning crew entirely made up of unusual-looking creatures.

Sure, some aliens can get ahead, like a badass businesswoman voiced with raspy and passionate aplomb by Kathryn Hunter.

But even in her brief role, she speaks to the social pressure to cover her ample limbs to appease the humans.