WALL·E

WALL·E
G
Running time: 97 minutes
USA

I've been looking forward to Pixar's latest installment for months and months. Finally, after overcoming laziness (which was strange, given my desire to see it) and the fact that I wanted to see it with London, I was able to see it last night. For anyone who doesn't know already, I have a strange fascination/love for Pixar (notice, I'm leaving out Disney because I'm not that big a fan without the Pixar addition). I'll spare you my petite soapbox and just remind you that these are no mere cartoons. They're cinematic masterpieces. Don't believe me? Go see another kids movie sometime and compare them (dare I say it? Ok...I will...Daddy Day Care! I just vomited all over my typewriter).

As I'm sure most of you already know, whether through personal viewings or the inundation of promos for the show, WALL·E is a small robot left on earth to clean up the trash of its previous inhabitants who now reside on a space station. He has picked up some knowledge of human culture by sifting through the junk and has developed a personality along the way. I won't go too much further into the plot as I think it's better left experienced than read. I will say this, though: Andrew Stanton and crew are fantastic story tellers and can take even robots that are programmed for mundane tasks and make them interesting characters.

Ok...now down to the nitty gritty. The question that I've already been asked by several people is "how does it rank in comparison with the rest of the Pixar library?" My honest opinion? Top 3 for sure. My favorites have been going back and forth from The Incredibles, Finding Nemo and Toy Story 2...and it's sad to say but WALL·E just knocked Toy Story 2 out of the top 3. Now, I'll address the concern that has been brought up by several people to me already...but only briefly. Yes, there is a "message" to the movie. Yes, it is a bit heavy handed in ONE part. Yes, it distracted me for a millisecond. However, that millisecond was not even close to being a detraction to the film as a whole. I don't consider myself an extreme environmentalist (ask my dad how I feel about recycling) but I didn't consider the underlying theme was obtrusive. I think Stanton kept it inline with the story about 99% of the time. And more power to him. That's what good story telling is all about. Every story has a point, moral, joke, etc. That's what makes them interesting. Again, I don't think Stanton/crew went overboard...they just got their point across, effectively enough to make some of us squirm.

I was absolutely blown away by the animation, again. Each installment makes me question whether or not they can top the previous one...and each time they come through with honors. The colors, the landscapes, the starscapes, the attention to detail...it's absolutely mind boggling how much work went into making this movie LOOK the way that it did. Let alone the writing, direction, design, physics, acting (which was minimal), etc. that tied the look together. There were some great sight gags and quite a few lines from the Captain of the vessel (voiced by Jeff Garlin) that got me laughing. Plus, and yes it's embarrassing to admit, I got emotional at the end. Yes, they were robots...ANIMATED robots at that. And they made me a little teary. In other words, and I'll leave it at this, I really enjoyed the movie. I'm frankly shocked at all the negative reviews and opinions from people so far. What's wrong with you people? Don't you know a good movie when you see one?! Get on board, fools!

p.s. j/k, lol, omg, rofl, brb

p.p.s. The animated short that plays before the feature, Presto, was hilarious...one more reason to go and see it and one more reason for me to love Pixar. Do you think Pixar's available? 'Cause I'd marry it...don't tempt me.