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Summer Full 'o Movies pt. 6 - Wall-E


Nathan Strum

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And the Summer movie-fest rolls on!

 

So, another research trip to... okay... we skipped work again. But if anything qualifies as research to those who work in an animation program, it's Wall-E.

 

Prior to the feature, is Pixar's latest short film: Presto. This is a wonderful throwback to the classic animated short films of Warner Brothers and MGM from the 40's and 50's. It's silly, fun animation, for the sake of silly, fun animation. (And you can buy it on iTunes for $1.99 if you want.)

 

Wall-E itself is a delight. Again, it shows just how far ahead of everyone else Pixar is at making animated films. I wondered if I could put up with two hours of his voice (provided by sound designer Ben Burtt) but in the context of the film, I didn't mind it at all. What really makes Wall-E work as a character though, is the animation. It's heartfelt and expressive, clever and funny, and always engaging. For a robot, the emotions are surprisingly deep, honest, and believable.

 

The movie is mesmerizing, touching, thoughtful, fun and funny. It starts off with Wall-E, all but alone, and definitely lonesome, when another robot enters his life and changes everything. From there, their relationship grows, and serves as the very heart of the film. It moves effortlessly from introspection to slapstick comedy. It offers insight and parody, always with intelligence and wit, and never pandering to its audience. There are many wonderful little moments throughout the film that are genuinely moving, and yet there is definitely a dark sense of humor running throughout the film. But beneath it all, the film has heart. And beyond all of that - it's an absolutely beautiful film, setting a new standard that's going to be hard for any other animation studio to match. (And... there are some fun sci-fi references for those with sharp eyes and ears.)

 

Wall-E is my favorite Pixar film to date. It's so different and unexpected, that it really took me by surprise. If I had any complaints about it, is that there are a couple of slow points in the movie where I found myself thinking, "This is really an amazing-looking movie" rather than being engrossed in what the characters were doing at the moment. But those moments were few and brief.

 

I've got to give this one... 9.5/10

 

 

I'm including a little bit of defensive commentary below. While it doesn't include any spoilers per se, I don't want to negatively color anyone's opinions of the film before they've had a chance to see it.

 

(Click and drag over the text below to read it.)

 

I've read some criticisms that after the first 45 minutes or so, people didn't care as much for the rest of the film when the story changed locations and its focus, but they're missing the point. The film has to move beyond its beginning, or it simply couldn't sustain (or justify) its story for an entire feature film. I enjoyed the second half of the film just as much as the first, but for different reasons. As much as the first part of the film establishes the heart of the story, the second part of the film gives an importance to what is going on, that goes beyond the two main robot characters, yet keeps them an integral part of it.

 

Some have also complained about the film making so-called "negative commentaries" about consumers and "preaching" about the environment. But I didn't see it that way (incidentally, I didn't read any reviews until after I watched the film). I felt empathy towards the humans, and considered them to be the victims in the story. The whole set-up to what happened to Earth is both satirical and funny (check out www.buynlarge.com), and a most-welcomed jab at behemoths like Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Microsoft. And while there is certainly an environmental message in the film, I never considered it to be heavy-handed or "preachy".

 

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It wasn't intentional to make him look like Number 5. But the creators of both robots needed to make them have expressive faces using cameras for eyes, a reasonable means of locomotion (tracks) and robot arms, so there's bound to be some similarities (which can be traced even further back to a certain droid in Star Wars). Beyond that, the body shapes, and how they move are completely different. I think Wall-E is also far more expressive, but then he should be, since he's CG rather than a physical robot/puppet, and has the best animators in the business behind him.

 

Actually, when I first saw him, I thought Wall-E kind-of resembled E.T., and that very nearly turned me off from ever going to see the movie. :ponder:

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Ah...! E.T. was the other thing it reminded me off, indeed. A cross between Johnny 5 and E.T. :ponder:

 

Well, can't be that bad a thing :)

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It wasn't intentional to make him look like Number 5. But the creators of both robots needed to make them have expressive faces using cameras for eyes, a reasonable means of locomotion (tracks) and robot arms, so there's bound to be some similarities (which can be traced even further back to a certain droid in Star Wars). Beyond that, the body shapes, and how they move are completely different. I think Wall-E is also far more expressive, but then he should be, since he's CG rather than a physical robot/puppet, and has the best animators in the business behind him.

 

Actually, when I first saw him, I thought Wall-E kind-of resembled E.T., and that very nearly turned me off from ever going to see the movie. :ponder:

That was absolutely my impression as well. I felt he was much more like ET than J5.
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