Movie & Reviews
WALL-E: Pixar conquers our hearts and minds all over again.
By Elyse Reel
Jul 2, 2008 - 1:29:28 PM

*****

All right, that’s it. It can’t be much longer now until the news reveals some Faustian scheme among the higher-ups at Pixar. It’s the only explanation as to how they continue to produce such good movies with such consistency.

And WALL-E – well, I refuse to be convinced that there’s not some supernatural trickery afoot here. Yep, the movie’s just that good.

WALL-E is up there among Pixar’s best, which is no small feat considering the studio’s impressive resume. It’s warm and witty and poignant and endearing, and by far one of the finest movies you’ll see all year.

WALL-E himself is the last robot – his full name is Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class – left on Earth in the twenty-seventh century to clean up the countless tons of waste a greedy consumer society left behind. He spends his time collecting knick-knacks and conversing with his one friend, a cockroach (it’s true what they say, I suppose, about the end of the world), until a mysterious spaceship lands and deposits a sleek fellow robot named EVE, who’s on a very important mission, and for whose heart WALL-E will follow to the ends of the galaxy – literally.

On one level, WALL-E is a romance, as our lonely robot watches old clips from Hello Dolly! and dreams of one day being able to hold hands with a fellow robot. (It’s a teeth-rottingly adorable plot thread, it should be noted, and no one will emerge from the theatre immune to WALL-E’s charms. Don’t even try to fight it.) But writer/director Andrew Stanton’s script is actually a sharp little satire as well, with a hard-hitting message about consumerism, greed, and laziness that makes its point without being preachy.

It’s debatable, then, whether the really young members of the audience are going to enjoy the film as much as their older counterparts or the adults will. While the fantastic array of robots that roll across the screen throughout the film should be sure to capture their attentions and hearts, much of the plot might zoom straight over their heads.

WALL-E is something of a departure for the animation world in that much of the film is dialogue-free, a courageous choice for a children’s film. It’s to WALL-E’s credit that he can carry the movie so admirably in pantomime, and when we do hear him speak, a good way into the story – “Eevaa,” he hums to his newfound love interest, in a futuristic version of the famed Tarzan and Jane introduction – it’s that much more of a delight. WALL-E speaks, and the audience adoration shoots even higher.

So regardless of whether WALL-E is the product of natural talent or a deal with the devil, it’s another Pixar masterpiece. It’s an interstellar robot love story for anyone who’s ever wanted to reach for the stars.

WALL-E runs 103 minutes and is rated G. Viewed at Commonwealth 20.

ereel@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421


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