Wall*E, 4 stars
Watched Pixar’s Wall*E on sunday, and came away impressed. But came away thinking that this movie was simply not as good as, say, Ratatouille.
Wall*E is indeed a weird movie.
It’s a bona fide dystopia, the future has been thoroughly maimed by greed and consumerism. The blows are not pulled at all - Earth lies in ruins, and the scenery is not pretty.
From a perspective of an Earthling that is. From an objective viewpoint the twin environments are amazingly detailed. Especially the dusty abandoned city where the movie starts is beautifully realized.
And despite the movie having a positive message, and an upbeat ending, I think this was the first Pixar movie from which I walked out without a grin plastered on my face. It’s by no means a serious movie (apart from the underlying theme), but it’s not a feel good buddy-movie like the most of the studio’s
previous output has excelled in.
It’s an almost silent movie for long stretches of its run. And with the exception of a few human characters, most of the vocals are severely computer-filtered. The extent of Wall*E’s own vocabulary can be counted with fingers.
But for the most part, the vocals go unmissed. The plot advances like an old silent film - with actions and expressions overtaking speech. The story is laid out slowly, exposition is not piled on from the start, as audiences are given time to figure at least some of the details themselves.
It’s the first Pixar movie that features non-animated actors. Even if Fred Willard’s face is only shown rendered on a video screen, it’s still a trailblazing moment for the company.
It’s an effective romantic movie that deals with two unorganic creatures, no matter how hard that is to imagine.
While the satire reaches pinnacle-height upon arrival to the generation ship axiom, the future generations of man are not depicted as evil or indifferent - just profoundly ignorant. This was a welcome change from the likes of Idiocracy and the like where stupidity seems to be one of the very few rapidly renewing resources known to man.
And by far this is a daring movie - combining all of the above with a sky-high cost of an animated movie meant that this is by no means a slam dunk for the studio. Happily enough both critical reception and audience acceptance have been high, thus proving that Pixar can continue taking risks in their upcoming productions.
The plot rolls along smoothly, so smooth in fact that I thought that for example the scene where the protagonist sees stars for the first time when dirtclouds temporarily part are not played to the full sense of wonder value.
But a far more severe shortcoming is the use of rebel robots. While the action is imaginatively thought, this is ground that has already been covered in Dreamworks’ Robots.
Like all Pixar films Wall*E is packed with intertextuality - a lot of references to older films are obvious, while others are truly well-hidden among the scenery. A lot of the items have been discovered already, but the list will probably keep stretching with the release of the dvd and the possibilities of stop-motion analysis. The first Apple reference (when Wall*E boots, the sound is that of an OS X-equipped computer) is amusing, but it gets repeated a tad too often.
Ultimately I was a bit disappointed in Wall*E. This is probably nothing more than a case of too high expectations. Based on the freely flowing hyperbole and the fact that this is the first true science fiction film from Pixar, I thought I would have liked this more. I’m not committing to the four stars as an ultimate expression, the rating might very well change upon a second viewing. Which is inevitable, considering that I’ve picked up all the preceding movies on dvd as well. And considering the visuals offered, this might be one of the very first movies that demand to be taken home in blu-ray format.
Wall*E is, again traditionally, preceded by a short film. This time “Presto” is featured, it concerns a stage magicians struggle with a hungry rabbit. And if the main event is more thought-provoking than out and out funny, this five minute piece packed with slapstick sleight of hand had the entire audience laughing out loud within seconds of kickoff. Also, an additional short film, called “BURN*E” seems to be slated for inclusion on the dvd release.
And I figure that it’s time to take a look at Hello Dolly, since both Pixar and Wordpress seem to have an unrequited love affair with the musical.
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