WALL-E

Should’ve bought stocks in Pixar. Nine hits in a row! The people working there are frickin’ geniuses. But enough about the superiority of Pixar, I've talked a lot about that in previous posts, let’s get to Wall-E.

As my last blog stated, I’m now engaged. It was announced during the graduation banquet last night. Whenever I was walking close to Maria, one of my students would exclaim quite loudly, “SO CUTE!” He kept saying it all night. It made me smile. Why am I telling you this? Well, when I was watching Wall-E this afternoon all I could think was “SO CUTE!” Now normally I wouldn’t judge a movie based on its cuteness factor, like how many pouts Abigail Breslin may have in a romantic comedy, but Wall-E is in an entirely different category. This brilliantly orchestrated film transcends cuteness. It has an adorableness that will tug at your heartstrings. It made me cry. Now, I didn’t get enough sleep last night, so I could blame that, but I believe the movie had that strong of an emotional punch.

I love how some critics have compared the character of Wall-E to the brilliant Charlie Chaplin. Sure, Wall-E is able to do both goofy and sincere without resorting to dialogue, but if you’ve seen some of the great Chaplin films, he always falls in love and wears his heart on his Little Tramp sleeve. Wall-E is able to bring you along emotionally with the raise of an eye and the composure of his square body. When the trailers first came out, many scoffed at the fact that Wall-E looks an awful lot like Johnny-5 from the classic Short Circuit. So what? Wall-E sure doesn’t act like Johnny. I never watched Short Cicuit due to the annoying robot voice-over so maybe that’s why it doesn’t bother me. Wall-E’s voice is perfectly done without celebrity credit, it was achieved by a hard-working sound designer, and it doesn’t take away from the film one iota. Sure there are some human voice over work by Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Kathy Najimy (Sister Act), Sigourney Weaver (Alien) and Pixar mainstay John Ratzenberger (Cheers), but it’s hardly the celebrity free-for-all found in films like Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda.

I could talk about the stunning animation, the intricate set designs, the powerful message of consumerism, environmentalism and health or even the fun, supporting cast of humans and robots, but this movie all comes down to its powerful love story. Robots in love. They make it so charming. As soon as the aptly named Eve appears on the screen, the audience is just as hooked as Wall-E is to the romantic possibilities. What I loved most about the love story was the intimacy of holding hands. In a culture, where many new relationships escalate at an alarming rate, it is refreshing to see how much importance is placed on this romantic way of connecting to another person (or robot, in this case) both physically and emotionally. The holding of hands is sweetly done. Maybe I’m more open to it now that I’m deeply in love but I think even the most cynical person would melt at Wall-E’s desire to hold hands with Eve.

I only have two minor complaints about Wall-E. The first is the constant references to the musical Hello Dolly. I haven’t seen the film. I couldn’t relate. Wish they could have picked a different musical. The second is the human footage of Fred Willard as the CEO of Buy N Large, the conglomerate responsible for wrecking the Earth. I don’t see why they couldn’t have animated him, or the Hello Dolly footage for that matter. It seemed completely out of place. Maybe Pixar and director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) were trying to make a point but I didn’t see it at the time. But these are minor quibbles.

Wall-E is one of the best movies of the year. You gotta see this in the theatre; if anything to check out the brilliant Pixar animation. Now, I’m not sure if kids will be able to sit through some of dialogue-free scenes or be able to handle some of the sadder material, but the kids in my theatre seemed to have a great time, especially when Wall-E is being curious and silly. As a bonus, the opening animated short, Presto, is hysterical. The bunny is hilarious. In any case, Wall-E is a masterpiece that will definitely make you think SO CUTE!