| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| randall |
Posted - 06/28/2008 : 18:47:42
Just got back from the latest Pixar, and while I'm as delighted and amazed as usual, I think that in time, this one may supplant the original TOY STORY as my favorite movie from these guys. It's astonishing how much facial expression and pathos the Pixies can coax out of a couple of headlight-shaped eyes; their evident study of how we humans communicate our feelings is on display here.
But what really sets WALL-E apart is the storytelling. I didn't clock it, obviously, but I'd be willing to bet that 75% of the film is dialogue-free. So: animating metallic objects without benefit of dialogue [if memory serves, the title character utters exactly two intelligible words during the entire picture], and finding as much heart as in any of their other stories, while giving us a Marx Brothers good time. What an accomplishment.
The story? I'll let you discover that for yourself, but it's a terrific science fictional ride, a love story, and a lightly nudging environmental polemic all in one. A smashing success, a masterpiece, and I only have one slight animation beef, involving Fred Willard. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Wheelz |
Posted - 08/11/2008 : 14:29:58
Finally caught Wall-E over the weekend...
I really, really, really wanted to love this film. Perhaps I was a victim of unrealistic expectations. From the multiple 4-star reviews it's been getting, to the many positive comments here on FWFR (which I didn't read thoroughly for fear of spoilers) to various other word-of-mouth suggesting that this was not only the best animated film anyone's ever seen, but the best film of any kind, of the year, the decade, etc... I actually went in expecting to be blown away.
There is a lot to like about Wall-E. It looks absolutely fantastic, for one thing. The folks at Pixar keep outdoing themselves, and this is easily the best CG animation I have ever seen. I often hear people say things like "It's amazing what computers can do these days." But for my money, what's amazing is that there are people who can figure out how to do this stuff with computers. From that perspective, I was extremely impressed with this movie.
I was also impressed by the range of emotions that were coaxed out of a dumpy little trash compacter and an almost-featureless android. I enjoyed the stretches of dialogue-free storytelling, and I thought Jeff Garlin (one of my favorite comedians) did a nice job in his voice role.
But in the end, the whole thing just left me kind of flat. There's just one rather simplistic storyline -- we aren't treated to any meaningful sub-plots or interesting side characters. I didn't find myself fully absorbed by the story. I spent more time marveling at the terrific animation and looking at the settings than I did empathizing with the characters.
Overall, I had a nice time at the movies and I knew I'd just watched a fine film, but -- and this is an intangible that's difficult to define -- it just didn't really move me. In that regard, Wall-E ranks about fifth or sixth just among Pixar films. Both Toy Story movies, Cars, Finding Nemo, and even Monsters, Inc. engaged and delighted me much more than this one did.
Not that I didn't like Wall-E -- I did.
But as I said, I really hoped I would love it -- and I didn't. |
| Chris C |
Posted - 07/22/2008 : 22:08:06
quote:
Originally posted by Chris C
Went to see the movie with 11yo daughter this morning, and we came away very impressed with the whole movie.
I'm with Salopian and agree with many of Demonic's sentiments. I don't have anything to add.
quote:
Can I just say in antidote I loved the sci-fi in jokes (HAL from 2001, Sigourney Weaver taking on the "Mother" role) and the invulnerable cockroach gag... brilliant.
Did anyone else spot the "Silent Running" moment?
Wall-E climbing across the outside of the Axiom reminded me of Huey (or Dewey or Louie) doing the same in Silent Running.
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| silly |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 14:45:18
I spent the weekend with three kids playing the Wall-E video game. Let's just say "not as magical" and leave it at that. It does have some fun problem solving puzzles.
The "Eve/Eva" thing is kinda funny, my son (Josh or Joshua) absolutely HATES being called "Josh-e" but somehow his little sister gets away with it sometimes.  |
| Salopian |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 09:14:04
quote:
Originally posted by turrell
My three year-old said "why he call her eva - her name is eve?"
O.K., that's interesting. I wonder whether most three-year-olds would have picked up on that. |
| turrell |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 06:14:36
My three year-old said "why he call her eva - her name is eve?" He also asked about 60 other questions but as it was a matinee filled with other inquisitive 3 - 7 year-olds it merely proved he was engaged. My 6 year-old just thought it was fuinny that he couldn't talk very well. |
| Salopian |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 02:56:21
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Not so strange - he can't pronounce her name properly, something she finds endearing and has a bit of a laugh at. I don't know if children would get it or not, but it seemed clear to me when she was trying to teach him her name he wasn't quite getting it.
Yes, of course I realised that he wasn't mispronouncing it on purpose. The point is that it's a strange choice given that his version is heard by far the most often, so younger children will be confused as to what her actual name is. |
| demonic |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 02:05:19
Not so strange - he can't pronounce her name properly, something she finds endearing and has a bit of a laugh at. I don't know if children would get it or not, but it seemed clear to me when she was trying to teach him her name he wasn't quite getting it. |
| Salopian |
Posted - 07/21/2008 : 01:00:05
I forgot to add before that I did laugh out loud a lot, which is not always the case with these sort of animations.
Another thing I meant to mention was how strange it is to have Fred Willard shown on screen as the BnL CEO (but isn't he also the President?! -- nice touch), whereas all the other humans are animated. I thought there was something weird at the time, but strangely did not actually consciously notice the distinction. I think that this was because, if I remember rightly, he is shown on a screen on Earth, and everything else there is so realistic except the cockroach. Actually, the video footage (of whatever musical it is) falls into the same category. How odd, but it somehow works. I guess the fatties are shown as being detached from real life.
Finally, isn't the choice of (pronunciation of) names strange? One would consider that WALL�E is meant to be like Wally, but he does not really pronounce it "wolly" (more "wahly") and it is also not a name that most children will be familiar with*. Even more strangely, WALL�E pronounces EVE like Eva. Given that he says it far more often than anyone else, I thought that this was rather confusing for children.
*Actually, I have just remembered Where's Wally?, so that in fact may not be the case as a result. |
| demonic |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 23:45:08
Cool! First trip to the cinema! Bet a few of us can remember that one... |
| chazbo |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 21:11:05
quote:
Originally posted by BaftaBabe
My inner 4-year-old was stamping her foot screaming No! No! Please rescue me. I do not want to go down this too-trodden path. But they didn't listen.
Interestingly, my outer 4-year-old (that is, my son) was also stamping his feet half way through the movie, in effect asking to be rescued from the theater. It was his first trip to the cinema, but unfortunately I didn't listen. In the end, though, he quite enjoyed the experience.
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| demonic |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 17:48:36
Can't say I did... I love that movie too. Was it one of the rogue robots? |
| Chris C |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 16:15:30
Went to see the movie with 11yo daughter this morning, and we came away very impressed with the whole movie.
I'm with Salopian and agree with many of Demonic's sentiments. I don't have anything to add.
quote:
Can I just say in antidote I loved the sci-fi in jokes (HAL from 2001, Sigourney Weaver taking on the "Mother" role) and the invulnerable cockroach gag... brilliant.
Did anyone else spot the "Silent Running" moment?
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| Montgomery |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 03:41:51
quote:
Originally posted by chazbo
While my kids got the eco-theme, though, they spent the rest of the day trying to mimic WALL-E saying his name.
EM :)
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| Salopian |
Posted - 07/19/2008 : 00:16:41
quote:
Originally posted by demonic
Thinking back on it now I can't shake the feeling I had when I left the cinema - I wasn't exhilarated or warmed like I was after say, Ratatouille or The Incredibles.
Just how I felt. While the scenario in Ratatouille is awesome, the story is actually pretty mediocre, but I still found myself very moist-eyed watching it. I actually felt similar watching the WALL�E trailer on one occasion recently, but perhaps it was just the mood I was in.
I still think that it's really a great film in most of the ways that have been outlined, such as what is achieved without dialogue. However, I'm not surprised that a lot of emotion can be conveyed with 'just' eyes. WALL�E is highly anthropomorphic in that regard, and human beings are highly programmed to see faces (which is why emoticons work). He is also just too like Number 5 for my liking. He's still a fantastically likeable character, though.
I don't mind the environmental message being rammed down kids' throats - so it should be. I agree with demonic, though, that it is rather wilfully optimistic. If they had just said "We cannot clean up all this until we are re-established, so we'll just start with one small island", I would have felt more satisfied. On the people, though, the portrayal of them was simply brilliant, I felt -- perhaps the best thing of the whole film. And that message is something that children can actually successfully act on individually if they choose too. I thought that the HAL-type stuff was maybe a bit confusing for young children, though, especially as it was quite a lengthy section.
Like RockGolf or someone, I was notably impressed by the C.G.I. (not usual these days) and consciously thought about how people a few years ago would not have been able to imagine it was anything other than filmed in the parts where it is just WALL�E on Earth.
Great credits too. |
| BaftaBaby |
Posted - 07/18/2008 : 20:02:44
I loved the bot from the moment I saw him in big-screen trailers and online trails and pop-up boxes and that 4-year who lives inside me was panting for the film to open.
Because apart from the little guy, look at the pedigree: co-writers Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter were behind Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc ... some damn fine Pixar pix. And the added trivia that Pete Docter's dad is a doctor - Doctor Docter. How cool is that!
But I digress.
The first bit I loved, loved, loved. It made me smile, smile loudly, laugh, and even a couple of times laugh loudly. It made me marvel at the technical quality, and go ooh and aah and everything. I wanted that bit to go on and on and on.
And then the story left the planet - in more ways than one. And that's where my delight, which I want you to imagine as a glorious ice sculpture, slowly started to melt. The story dragged in every safe cliche, punched you in the eye with its message, sacrificed running and gliding and flying and sliding for anything meaningful and true. And it lost me, dropped me down the tunnel.
The dialogue should have been way funnier, the characters far more differentiated and exaggerated and developed.
My inner 4-year-old was stamping her foot screaming No! No! Please rescue me. I do not want to go down this too-trodden path. But they didn't listen. And so the film, its dynamics all bumpy and ruptured, reached an inevitable stopping place.
The witty, pretty end credits helped band-aid the wound, but I'm still bleeding. Oh, Wall-E, if ever you're in my neighbourhood, please come by for a hug. I really need one!
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