Wall-E

Voices of: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzenberger, Pete Docter,
Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Rating: G
Genre: Animation, Children's
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: After humanity filled up Earth with too much garbage, the entire race left the planet on a gigantic spaceship. Now, 700 years later, the only being left on the planet is a small garbage cleaning robot named Wall-E. He lives out his days in solitude until a strange spaceship lands and he meets a beautiful robot named Eve.

Review:

Tim: The first 30-40 minutes of this movie are an absolute masterpiece. This is amazing because the main character doesn't even speak a word for the first 25 minutes. I know people have been going on and on about the genius of Pixar for years. I have been impressed as well, but nothing they have done compares to this movie. For nearly an hour, we are witnesses to a pure masterpiece. Watching Wall-E move around, collecting garbage, his only friend a small cockroach shouldn't be as entertaining as it is. I was completely mesmerized as I watched this small robot in this strange version of Earth. I loved it.

Unfortunately, the film does start to stray. By the time the spaceship shows up, I was almost disappointed because I knew this was going to interrupt the story thus far. EVE's entrance is superb, and there are some nearly perfect scenes as these two robots meet and become friends. There are some scenes (like Wall-E with the umbrella in the rain) that I would add to my greatest-scenes-of-all time list. However, when Wall-E stows away on the spaceship, the film starts to stray. It takes a while to get used to these new surroundings, seeing actual people, and a whole host of new robots. This hurts the film a bit, but eventually, everything rights itself again. The middle of the movie is the weakest part, but it is still wildly enjoyable. I can't even begin to describe how much I loved hearing Wall-E and EVE call out each other's names. The computer generated voices were just phenomenal.

Luckily, the film manages to pull everything together to end in a powerful, remarkable fashion. By the end of the movie, I just breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that I had just witnessed a near-masterpiece. There are certain parts of this movie that are so outstanding, I can barely describe them. I absolutely loved this movie. If the middle of the film had been a bit more effective, we'd be talking about one of the greatest movies I've ever had the pleasure of watching. As is, this movie is outstanding, wonderful, and an instant classic. The genius of Pixar is that they give us an animated, futuristic, robot love story, and it is amazing. I could go on and on, but I'll just end by saying that this is one of the best movies of the year, and one of the greatest animated films of all time.

*Update- I've always hesitated to rewatch Wall-E. I loved the movie so much the first time I watched it, I was concerned it wouldn't hold up on repeat viewings. However, great movies need to do that, and here we are. After seeing Wall-E for a second time (roughly 12 years after my first viewing), I can say that the movie is absolutely great, still the best thing Pixar has done. I may not have loved the movie quite as much with that same wide-eyed wonder as the first time, but I certainly wouldn't lower my rating one bit. This is still one of the best animated movie ever made.

This time around, I got to watch the movie with my 6 year-old son and 2.5 year-old daughter. They both really enjoyed the movie. I got to see how they were introduced to the characters in that wonderful, nearly-wordless introduction. It reminded me of the focus on visuals from the silent movie era. It's still such a brilliant introduction to Wall-E and his world. The animation has held up a decade plus later- I sat there, just marveling at the absolutely gorgeous film. It's incredible. I felt very similar to my original review- the beginning and the end are fantastic, the movie sags a bit in the middle. What's funny is that I probably enjoyed the middle bits even more. Perhaps it's watching this as an aging adult- being in my late 30s (verses mid-20s) gives you a different appreciation for how easily humanity could allow technology to completely run one's life. A floating chair sounds pretty sweet, to be honest. While I still don't think these middle scenes compare to the beginning and conclusion, I enjoyed them more.

Wall-E is a great movie. I loved introducing my children to this film. It's entertaining, contains those deep wells of emotion that Pixar is so known for, and is a complete, fantastic film. Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Cars, Ratatouille, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo