Wall-E

The General opinion is that Pixar has not made a bad movie. They have made a few just okay movies, but generally speaking they have not missed completely, yet. I disagree, as we all know. To the disgust of everyone I know, I loathe Finding Nemo. Wall-E is directed by the same man who did Finding Nemo. However, I have been in love with the binocular eyed robot, Wall-E, since I first saw the teaser in front of National Treasure 2. I just wanted to hug that goofy little robot and I have been dying to watch the movie. The reviews were all fantastic, only heightening my anticipation, which can sometimes be a bad thing.

From the looks of it Earth was long abandoned and all that is left is a cute little robot named Wall-E. He is on Earth to clean it up. He puts the trash in his stomach area, which compacts the trash and then he stacks it. He is a robot, but this robot has feelings and he is curious. Throughout his day he puts assorted things in his lunch box to take them home. He has a giant collection of random junk and he has a tape of Hello Dolly. He longs to hold hands with someone else. He is so sad and lonely, but his entire world changes when a new sleek and, dare i say sexy, robot comes to Earth ina giant craft. Wall-E is taken with her, but at first she has one goal. She is looking for signs of green life on the planet. When she finds it, she shuts down and Wall-E left alone again and sad. Eve's ship comes down to get her, Wall-E hitches a ride and begins an awesome adventure to find his true love and finally hold hands. Eve is taken to a bigger spaceship. Well, it is kind of like a new planet that is run by a Best Buy type box store called "Buy N Large." Humans have been reduced to fat, rolly poly things that live in these lazy boy chairs. They only do what their personal computers tell them to do. Eve's job is to get the plant to somewhere on the ship, so the ship can turn around for Earth. Things get complicated and Wall-E must be the hero.

Brad Bird (Director of animated classics like Iron Giant and The Incredibles) was once quoted as saying " It's(animation) not a genre! A Western is a genre! Animation is an art form, and it can do any genre. Wall-E is the true embodiment of that statement. Wall-E is a perfect Sci-Fi movie with touches of romantic comedy thrown in to give the whole thing a human connection. Even though there is essentially no dialog for the first 30 minutes, everything that needs to be conveyed is conveyed in some way. Wall-E is one of the most adorable movie characters ever created and the adventure he is placed in provides the perfect opportunity for us to see the curious and heroic robot. From minute 1, I knew Wall-E; I understood Wall-E. I could identify with him and his plight and he never spoke a word. It is a touching, funny, interesting, mind blowing, sci fi spectacular and there were times when I forgot I was even watching something animated.

Yes, it is liberal propaganda. There is no denying that inside this movie is a message warning about being kind to our planet. But it is so much more than that. Wall-E is about human contact. It is about falling in love on the most basic level. The urge to just be touched. Who knew it would take a robot to remind us what being human really is about. With a beautiful landscape of oldies music and the song "Put on your Sunday clothes" from Hello Dolly, the music helps tell the story and when the movie transplants to the spacecraft, the sci-fi aspects get even richer. We are introduced to all kind of robots and each are given unique personalities and jobs on the ship. One robot in particular, the cleaning robot, provides some of the best laughs. Then when we meet the broken or crazy robots, the laughs just get bigger and broader. But, Wall-E really owns this movie. I dare you not to fall in love with his goofy eyes, his desire for mischief and his heroic nature. I dare you not to tear up towards the end of this beautiful epic. If you don't, you are without a soul.

Of course the animation is spectacular, but that is nothing new. It is what they do with the animation that makes this movie a cut above the others. This is probably the best Pixar movie and it will most likely be on my list of best movies when the year is over. I honestly cannot understand anyone who tells me they did not like the movie. There is nothing not to love about it. It has humor and heart. It has thrills and a message, but most of all, it is one of the most endearing and entertaining movies I have seen this year. Three Cheer for that adorable robot.


Final Grade: A