"WALL-E": ANOTHER STUNNING SUCCESS FOR PIXAR
Written: Jun 28 '08
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Great animation, great writing, beautiful story
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This is simply one of the best films of the decade
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| mike.holmes's Full Review: WALL-E |
Both my two grandchildren (ages 4 and 5) and my niece (10) have wanted to see this movie since the very first trailers came out. So did I. I've been a fan of Pixar films since their first movies in the 90's. "WALL-E" did not disappoint us.
THE PLOT
"WALL-E" is actually an acronym for "Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth-Class". He appears to be the lone "survivor" on the planet Earth sometime in the future. Developed by man to crush and stack refuge, WALL-E continues to follow his programmed instructions although man is no longer on the planet. His lone "friend" is an unnamed cockroach.
WALL-E exists in some large city by the sea which is in total disarray. While going about his programmed job, WALL-E shows a humanistic ability to save a few trinkets that remind his memory of civilization. He also repeatedly views an old VHS tape of an old musical in which two humans are seen singing to each other and holding hands.
The robot's life is uneventful except for the almost daily wind storms that threaten his limited existence until a alien spaceship lands in his city. The spaceship leaves a somewhat attractive, if deadly, robot and returns to space. The robot turns out to be named "Eve" and "she" and WALL-E eventually hit it off.
I don't want to spoil anything else about the plot except to say that WALL-E and Eve are involved in a wild inter-galactic trip which has earth-shattering importance for humanity.
WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THE FILM
The very first scene in the film gave me cold chills. The scene is animated but extremely realistic. It portrays a nightmarish vision of what man may be doing to this planet and it shook me. It is that kind of animation that I have come to expect from Pixar but they certainly exceeded those expectations here.
The amazing thing about the first third (at least) of this film is that there is practically no dialogue. The movie is not a "silent film" per se because there are sound effects and "voices" heard in a variety of manners but there is simply no dialogue. I attended the film with my wife and niece and about 200 children under 8. Amazingly, with no dialogue, the children sat there riveted to the action (as did I).
There are very few human voices in the film. The majority of the "voices" were designed by Ben Burtt ("Star Wars-Episode 1", "Willow") who "performed" WALL-E's voice as well as numerous other sounds. Elissa Knight ("Cars") did the voice for Eve. Jeff Garlin ("Curb Your Enthusiasm") was the voice of the captain while Fred Willard ("Best In Show", "A Mighty Wind") was the CEO for the world corporation known as BnL (Big and Large). In an ironic twist, Sigourney Weaver ("Alien") was the voice for the rather evil ship's computer. They all did a fine job but it was Burtt's WALL-E who stole the show.
Thomas Newman ("Finding Nemo", "American Beauty") wrote a great original score for the film.
I never know who to give credit to for animation or special effects in a movie with this many people involves but suffice it to say that this will be the "Best Animated Movie" at Oscar time. I'm not sure it shouldn't be named in the Best Films category.
Finally, there are several messages in this film which may bother some people. There is the obvious message about how we are treating this planet and the scary results of that treatment. There are also messages about how mankind is turning into a large, useless creature through inactivity. Although obvious, the messages are treated with a beautiful combination of humor and grim determination about avoiding these disasters.
I should point out that one man is largely responsible for this film: director and screenwriter Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo", "Toy Story"). He should win several awards for this film but his greatest satisfaction will be how people will love this movie.
This is a great film for the entire family.
FIVE STARS
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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mike.holmes
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Member: Mike Holmes
Location: Odessa, Texas
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