WALL*E (2008)

- [G]

- Starring = Fred Willard and featuring the voices of: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver

- Written & Directed by = Andrew Stanton

- Running Time = 1hr 37min

It's that time of the summer when the latest Pixar film is released. This is alway a huge events for family's. I have enjoyed most of their offerings. I'm one of the few who thought TOY STORY was just okay, stealing the plot from Jim Henson's A CHRISTMAS TOY. The second one, A BUG'S LIFE looked great, but had a bland story. TOY STORY 2 was the first Pixar film I really really liked. A big improvement over the original. MONSTER'S INC. and FINDING NEMO were both fun. THE INCREDIBLES was not only a great animated film, but one of the best action films in recent years. CARS and RATATOUILLE were also pleasant. Now, from the director of NEMO comes WALL*E, a Sci-Fi extravaganza.

The year is 2815. Earth is now a wasteland. The only inhabitant is WALL*E, a robot who was made to clean up the garbage. It seems that he has developed a personality, he collects things and his favorite movie is HELLO DOLLY. He is also quite lonely as his only friend is a cockroach. One day, a spaceship lands dropping off a scavenger droid, EVE. At first she's quite hostile, shooting everything in sight. But it isn't long before she warms up to WALL*E, and the two develop a subtle, intimate bond. When WALL*E finds a plant, EVE stores it inside her body and she shuts down. A ship comes by and retrieves her. WALL*E doesn't want lose his new friend, so he grabs onto the ship as it takes off. They travel to a space station where all of the remaining humans live. Everyone is overweight. They never walk, relying on floating lounge chairs to travel, with a TV screen in front of their faces. Meanwhile, the captain of the station gets the plant from eve. He sees this as a sign to return to earth, but the ship's computer has other plans. It's up to WALL*E, EVE and a whole slew of robots to save the day.

The first 39 and a half minutes of WALL*E are pretty much dialogue free. At least by humans. This portion is all about the interaction between WALL*E and EVE. I can't even begin to tell you how touching and tender their relationship is. It's hard to believe that two robots can come off more human than say, Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Okay, maybe it's not that hard to believe, but I was surprised by how much they captured my heart. When they are separated you feel the need for them to get back together. I haven't been this invested in a film's characters for a long time.

The second portion of the film takes place on the space station. This was really interesting. I love how it showed how reliant on technology the human race becomes. They, themselves have become like robots. In fact, the robots are more human in them. And that's obviously the point. This isn't just a movie with cute robots. It has alot to say about our society and the environment without getting overly preachy. I really liked how WALL*E is kind of like cupid too. When he bumps into two humans, he opens their eyes to the world around them, allowing them to discover simple pleasures.

There are a couple of stand out sequences. Pretty much the first 40 minutes are unforgettable. Because there is no dialogue, the animators have the characters communicate through body language and gestures. Not an easy feat given that the main characters are robots. Quite an achievement. There is a great scene when Wall*E is ejected and Eve attempts to save him. This is when Eve discovers she has feelings for him. Their first kiss is one of the best kisses of all time. The other great moment is towards the end and I won't spoil it for you, but it was a touching scene that had me in tears. In fact, I got choked up a few times in this. Even more than my 4 year old daughter.

Because it's Pixar, it's really no surprise that the film looks amazing. It's a little different than their past movies, though. Usually using bright colors, this movie uses lots of rust and browns, since everything is kind of a wasteland. The space scenes also look great. The humans look about the same. In fact, if it weren't for them, it would have almost seemed like a live action movie. The vehicles and robots look about as real as any sci-fi live action film. The voice design is incredible, and will for sure win the academy award. I loved Eve's voice. The first time she says, "Who are you?", it sounds almost intelligible, but once she says it again, you can kind of hear it. It must have taken along time to find just the right balance of english and robot jargon. Thomas Newman's score mixes his usual rhythms with a futuristic sensibility. It's really good and I'm listening to it right now.

I can't wait to see this again! It's not often that a movie can wow you with visual effects and then pull the heartstrings at the same time. E.T. did it. And now WALL*E has. Not only is this a great Sci-Fi film, it's also easily one of most romantic films of all time! Dismissing this as just another kids film is not only unfair to the film, it's unfair to you. My favorite film of the year so far!

4/4