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"I've seen WALL*E and it's the best movie I've seen this year," says HE's Austin -based correspondent Moises Chiullan. "I went into it only having seen a brief preview at last year's Butt-Numb-a-Thon and the trailers. Do yourself the same favor and go in cold and un-influenced. I didn't think I'd like a Pixar film more than Ratatouille, but I think WALL*E really redefines how you think about Pixar, trite as that may sound.
"Yes, the movie is fine for kids, but honestly, it's better for adults -- not more appropriate, just more of a definitive cinematic experience. The movie is a great deal closer to Modern Times than An Inconvenient Truth, even though the news media is going to sensationally mislead everyone like they have throughout the election cycle so far...in the interest of selling adverts or airtime.
"I want to take great care to not spoil one ounce of WALL*E more than others already have, and even pull back from railing against some of the accusations I've seen written about by both those who've seen it and the idiots still calling WALL*E a character design rip-off from Short Circuit (way wrong).
"The bleak, desolate planet Earth has become in the story is shown in all the trailers. The rampant consumerist devouring of resources is at fault. But the real bent of the movie is housed in the 'little tramp' love story at its core, even though, yes, of course, the 'let's not destroy the earth' thing is in there, but there is more emphasis on hope in the human spirit.
Similar to the Chaplin-vs.-Keaton argument, the dialogue regarding "what WALL*E is 'really' about" may continue until all known traces of the movie are gone. From a certain perspective, you could say that Stanton and others are glossing over the 'green' message, but that assessment is off-base. The movie is more fundamentally about what it is to exist and believe in hope. Every science fiction film with a desolate Earth as a backdrop does not make that its main focus, and neither does WALL*E.
"I've let WALL*E roll around in my head for around a week and a half since seeing it, and I can't shake it (a good thing). It would be one thing if I were exploding with praise the day after seeing it, but the factthat it's still as captivating almost two weeks later, to me, means the movie has to be the real deal. This movie falls under the Important Cinema banner regardless of what piece of its narrative you fall in love with. This really could be one of the movies people will still argue about in 25, 50, or 100 years."
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 25, 2008 at 11:13 PM
comment #1
scooterzz
says ...
i honestly can't believe you're going to give this movie the "obama" push and make it the "you love it or you're stupid" push.......
i've seen 'wall-e' twice...you are just wrong......
Posted by scooterzz
at June 26, 2008 12:33 AM
comment #2
Chris Willman
says ...
You had to see it twice just to make sure that anyone who likes its second half has a lack of aesthetics?
Posted by Chris Willman
at June 26, 2008 12:37 AM
comment #3
scooterzz
says ...
no....i wanted to see it twice because i thought that, perhaps, i'd misjudged it and wanted to give it another go....
but thanks for the almost snark.....feel better now?
Posted by scooterzz
at June 26, 2008 12:40 AM
comment #4
D.Z.
says ...
"The movie is a great deal closer to Modern Times than An Inconvenient Truth, "
I'm just wondering if that won't turn off the kiddie audience and the adult audience looking for talking animals spouting double entendres.
Posted by D.Z.
at June 26, 2008 12:50 AM
comment #5
Legowombat
says ...
'Little Tramp?' I just love it when critics interpret films exactly as the press release rhetoric dictates.
Posted by Legowombat
at June 26, 2008 2:13 AM
comment #6
transmogrifier
says ...
I'm sorry, I can't trust anyone's opinion of the next Pixar film if they so salivated over the horrendously tepid and cynical Ratatouille.
Posted by transmogrifier
at June 26, 2008 3:00 AM
comment #7
p.Vice
says ...
Maybe everyone keeps claiming that Pixar movies are "better for adults" because most adults today have the mental capacity of an 8-year-old.
Posted by p.Vice
at June 26, 2008 6:34 AM
comment #8
Howlingman
says ...
"Maybe everyone keeps claiming that Pixar movies are "better for adults" because most adults today have the mental capacity of an 8-year-old."
As frequent postings to internet message boards will attest.
Posted by Howlingman
at June 26, 2008 7:02 AM
comment #9
Seen K
says ...
"...the horrendously tepid and cynical Ratatouille."
"Ratatouille," cynical? Please, elaborate...
*leans forward in chair, raises finger behind ear*
Posted by Seen K
at June 26, 2008 7:05 AM
comment #10
Unison
says ...
I agree that Ratatouille wasn't anything special. I don't see how it rose above the cookie-cutter cartoon movie formula at all.
Almost every Pixar movie gets this sort of through-the-roof praise. I am still skeptical, to say the least.
Posted by Unison
at June 26, 2008 7:14 AM
comment #11
erniesouchak
says ...
I've never enjoyed the Pixar style and was pleased to find the first half of WALL-E is quite unlike it. I found this portion of the film almost charming. Once the action moves to the spaceship, however, it's the usual Pixar clatter & clamor & franticness. Incidentally, if the WALL-E character is a tribute to/ripoff of anything, it's E.T., not Short Circuit.
Posted by erniesouchak
at June 26, 2008 7:42 AM
comment #12
Chance
says ...
"...it's the usual Pixar clatter & clamor & franticness."
That sounds more like a Michael Bay movie, or maybe a Tony Scott flick. Pixar's stuff reminds me of classic Spielberg, if anything.
Of course, all you Pixar haters probably don't like JAWS and RAIDERS either.
Posted by Chance
at June 26, 2008 7:57 AM
comment #13
K. Bowen
says ...
I accept that Pixar films, from a technical standpoint, are exceptional. But Ratatouille didn't work for me, either. Of course I'm not particularly interested in either animation or gourmet.
Posted by K. Bowen
at June 26, 2008 8:21 AM
comment #14
berg
says ...
Cat out of the bag ... I didn't see the term Little Tramp used in the press materials, nor is Silent Running mentioned ... they do mention Hello Dolly. Fred Willard makes a live action cameo and the film involves a new language, and Stanton acknowledged that his next film John Carter on Mars will utilize new lexicons and some live action. Also R Deakins and D Muren were visual consultant on wall-e.
Posted by berg
at June 26, 2008 9:26 AM
comment #15
LexG
says ...
Gee, SHOCKER, critics like the new 'xar movie. BORING. Enough with the GODDAMN KIDDIE CARTOONS.
Christ. Be a man. Any man over the age of 14 who goes to see this wack kids shit instead of HAVING THEIR ASS OWNED AND PUMMELED BY "WANTED" needs to officially turn over their dick.
MAN UP AND RECOGNIZE WANTED.
Cartoons ARE FOR CHILDREN. Obviously all you HOLLYWOOD INSIDERS get to see these things in the insular environment of CRITICS SCREENINGS, but just stop for a sec to imagine yourself sitting admidst a bunch of strollers and shrieking kids, watching a CARTOON all by yourself. There, now don't you feel like a jackass?
Think LEE MARVIN would hit the local AMC to sit dead-center WATCHING A CARTOON?
BE A MAN. BE GOD. DON'T BE WEAK.
EMBRACE WANTED.
Bunch of 30, 40, and 60-somethings watching CARTOONS.
EMBARRASSING.
And if you say, OH, I brought my kid....
well, you shouldn't have kids. NO ONE needs kids. Wear a rubber and BE A MAN.
Posted by LexG
at June 26, 2008 10:38 AM
comment #16
Howlingman
says ...
^^ I rest my case ^^
Posted by Howlingman
at June 26, 2008 11:44 AM
comment #17
Jimmycrackcorn
says ...
Why do I get the feeling that LexG is seriously pussywhipped at home,
Posted by Jimmycrackcorn
at June 26, 2008 2:10 PM
comment #18
transmogrifier
says ...
"...the horrendously tepid and cynical Ratatouille."
"Ratatouille," cynical? Please, elaborate...
The whole movie is about all the plebians in the world learning to totally exhalt and bow to the genius of one individual, an individual with no desire to collaborate with others unless they are following his genius to the letter. It teaches us we can all be happy in life as long as we bend to the will of our superiors.
Posted by transmogrifier
at June 26, 2008 2:12 PM
comment #19
quizkid82
says ...
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute.
So now, as a Web-savvy movie snob, I'm supposed to hate Pixar movies, too? Jeez.
Posted by quizkid82
at June 26, 2008 4:16 PM
comment #20
bluefugue
says ...
>Cartoons ARE FOR CHILDREN.
False. Next?
Posted by bluefugue
at June 26, 2008 4:33 PM
comment #21
Seen K
says ...
"The whole movie is about all the plebians in the world learning to totally exhalt and bow to the genius of one individual, an individual with no desire to collaborate with others unless they are following his genius to the letter. It teaches us we can all be happy in life as long as we bend to the will of our superiors."
Wow. That's quite a stretch there, and I suspect it speaks more about your personal projection than the filmmakers' intention. The "villain" Anton Ego is the closest symbol of cynicism in the whole movie, and even he arcs into a more open believer type. I don't think Pixar has a truly cynical bone in its entire body of work.
Posted by Seen K
at June 26, 2008 10:37 PM
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