WALL-E: A Review

WALL-E Review

by Nick Hibbeler

I’ll begin my review of Pixar’s latest animated motion picture, WALL-E by discussing what I had to endure during the previews. Because WALL-E is an animated feature—and animated features are typically geared toward a younger audience in America—the trailers that preceded WALL-E were a collection of “family films”. These are movies that geared toward the widest of audiences, have easily pronounced titles and usually offer nothing of substance. The previews ran as follows:

Pink Panther 2 – This wasn’t really a preview, but more of a public service announcement (turn off your electronic gadgets) featuring Steve Martin as inspector Jacque Clouseau. I respect Steve Martin and have enjoyed his standup routine as well as some of his earlier roles, but let us engage in some word association. Peter Sellers is to Steve Martin as a pound of pure gold is to what? (If you guessed 1 Mexican Peso, you were correct).

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – In case you didn’t catch it, I’d like to point out that Dreamworks cleverly replaced the word “to” with the number “2”. As if that weren’t neat enough, the number actually points to the fact that this is a sequel. This trailer seemed to run very long. This might be due to the fact that I recognized all the gags as rehashed from the trailers from the first Madagascar movie, which I’m sure I had to sit through many more times than I would have wanted. It’s true that I made an attempt at seeing the first film of this series, but it was absolute tripe.

Meet Dave – This movie features comedy “legend” Eddie Murphy doing what he’s done best in the past 12 or so years. Apparently about a crew of tiny people who take over an android (played by Eddie Murphy). I could maybe, possibly, somehow see this premise producing possibilities for genuinely entertaining physical comedy, but let’s look at Mr. Murphy’s track record. Norbit, The Haunted Mansion, Daddy Day Care, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Dr. Dolittle, Dr. Dolittle 2, The Nutty Professor, The Nutty Professor 2: Meet the Klumps…

Beverly Hills Chihuahua – I’m imagining a board meeting filled with advertising, studio, and merchandizing executives. They’re all laughing and smoking giant cigars made out of the flesh of innocent orphans. Why are they laughing? Because they’ve succeeded in “unleashing” upon an unsuspecting public a trailer of the most dire consequences. Amid a confusing and bright display of computer-animated Chihuahuas dancing (and singing) in unison, a movie tagline so sinister in its meaninglessness, that I can scarce forget it, no matter how hard I try. “50% Warrior, 50% Lover, 100% Chihuahua.” If you throw enough cute animals on a screen, people will see the movie. This also works with fart jokes, violence, and boobies. May God help us all.

Bolt – In comparison to what had come before it, this trailer seemed somewhat interesting. “Bolt” is a Disney animated feature about a stunt dog in Hollywood who thinks his movie powers are real. Starring Danny Zuko and Hannah Montana, my hopes are about as high as a Chihuahua.

If there were any more trailers, I wouldn’t know because I blacked out until that little Pixar lamp was bouncing up and down on that “I”. Like every Pixar feature before, WALL-E was preceded by an animated short. This time around, we were treated to “Presto”. The short was about a magician who couldn’t quite control his hare. It was very funny and acted as a buffer between the disgusting spectacle of Hollywood garbage and the film itself.

WALL-E begins with some stunning visuals of outer space and eventually drops us down to earth. Immediately noticeable is the forgotten landscape. As Stanton presents a barren shell of civilization, the social commentary becomes immediately recognizable. A massive, abandoned shopping center stands as an ominous vision against a dusty and lifeless backdrop. This setting is beautifully displayed in drab earth tones and complimented marvelously by Thomas Newman’s score. It is in these opening moments that we are introduced to WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class), a tiny droid endlessly fulfilling his task of waste management. The geniuses at Pixar use this simple character and environment to imaginatively and humorously ease us into this uneasy reality. For the first half of the film, dialogue is noticeably almost non-existent. I cannot properly describe how refreshing this was. Pixar once again displays their unmatched ability to tell a story through animation. Through silence, WALL-E represents a resounding answer to the deluge of meaningless animation that seems to pollute our screens these days. In a contrast to the all-star casts and incessant pop-culture references presented to us by animation studios such as Dreamworks, Pixar gives is its clearest example of distinction. How fitting it is that this clean-up job would be given to a little trash-compactor robot. The second half of the movie leads us onto the AXIOM, spaceship and mankind’s temporary-turned-permanent home in outer space. Here, WALL-E pursues fellow robot EVE with the kind of romantics learned by watching “Hello Dolly” while back on earth. A whole new aspect of satire takes place on the AXIOM as mankind has become an essentially useless race of self-pleasers and mindless consumers. The commentary gets thick here, but never overbearing. The fact that Disney could produce a movie with this much substance gives me great hope and I’ll be watching very closely to see how this does at the box office.

As with previous Pixar titles, WALL-E delivers on every level. It visually shines and thanks to Andrew Stanton’s brilliant vision and Pixar’s notorious attention to detail, I’ll never get tired of looking at this movie. Like Finding Nemo (Stanton’s other Pixar masterpiece), the storytelling is solid and made all the more impressive by the lack of dialogue. Two-time Oscar Award-winning Ben Burtt does most of the programming for Robot voices. His work includes voices on E.T. and Star Wars. What voice acting there is—is good (Yes, John Ratzenberger is in this movie). Fred Willard acts as Global CEO of Buy-n-Large Corporation, and does an excellent Fred Willard. Thomas Newman and Peter Gabriel collaborate on “Down to Earth”, a song which will most likely be nominated for Best Original Song, come Oscar season.

Overall, I’m pleased to say that this movie is excellent. I had ridiculously high expectations for it as Finding Nemo had been my favorite animated feature for quite some time (WALL-E is challenging that fact), but it didn’t dissapoint. WALL-E is about as close to perfect as I’ve ever seen when it comes to film. It combines engaging storytelling with stunningly beautiful visuals and one of Thomas Newman’s greatest scores. I cannot overstate the importance that social commentary plays in really great movies. Pixar has accomplished an immensely entertaining adventure with absolutely nothing empty about it. I would urge everyone to see this movie. I can’t imagine why anyone (except for the folks at Wal-Mart) wouldn’t get behind WALL-E. I’ll be looking forward to hearing everyone’s opinion on it.

Note: If you don’t like WALL-E, I do have some good news for you—“Shrek Goes Fourth” is in pre-production and should be coming out some time in 2010.