Critics Consensus: WALL-E Is the Best-Reviewed Film of 2008
Plus, Wanted delivers the adrenaline-fueled goods.
This week at the movies, we've got lonely robots (Pixar's WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton) and kinetic killers (Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman). What do the critics have to say?
It's rare that a picture earns comparisons with Chaplin's City Lights and Kubrick's 2001. It's rarer still that said picture is also praised as intelligent, visually remarkable, darkly funny, and ultimately, heartwarming family fare. However, critics say the good folks at Pixar have done just that with WALL-E, perhaps the studio's most audacious film yet. Set in a dystopian future, WALL-E is the tale of a garbage-collecting robot navigating an unpopulated Earth. Soon he's joined by EVE, a female bot searching for vegetation, and falls head-over-treads in love. Critics have been heaping praise on Pixar for years, but there's a reason for that: The studio re-invents the rules of CG animation each time out. The pundits say WALL-E deftly blends slapstick, political satire, heartbreaking romance, and masterful storytelling into a one-of-a-kind movie experience. At 96 percent on the Tomatometer, WALL-E is not just Certified Fresh. It's not just one of the best-reviewed films of the year. It's one of the best-reviewed films in Pixar's history.
"Now where can we get some Brawndo?"
If you're looking for realism and well-developed characters, you can safely skip Wanted. However, if visceral, kicky popcorn fun is what you crave, critics say this Angelina Jolie-toplined flick should largely satisfy. Directed by Timur (Night Watch) Bekmambetov, Wanted is the story of an average Joe (James McAvoy) who finds himself recruited into a secret society by the enigmatic Fox (Jolie), in which he learns how to be an efficient assassin before getting in over his head. The pundits say Wanted is ultra-violent and artificial, but also sharply-paced and loaded with visual flair. At 72 percent, Wanted is more alive than dead. (Check out our video interview with Jolie here, and our breakdown of McAvoy's best-reviewed films here.)
"Clean up on aisle five!"
Also opening this week in limited release:
Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, The Mistress and The Tangerine, a documentary about the iconoclastic artist, is at 89 percent;
Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's Gunnin' for That #1 Spot, a doc about street-hoops Mecca Rucker Park, is at 82 percent;
Catherine Breillat's The Last Mistress, adapted from a novel by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly and starring Asia Argento, is at 71 percent;
Trumbo, a doc about the blacklisted screenwriter of Roman Holiday, is at 64 percent;
Elsa & Fred, a romantic comedy about a wild love affair between two seniors in Madrid, is at 50 percent;Finding Amanda, starring Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow, a comedy about a compulsive gambler's search for his drug-addicted niece, is at 46 percent;
And Hannari: Geisha Modern, a doc about the Japanese performance tradition, is at zero percent.
"I'm taking my Tomatometer with a grain of salt."
Recent Pixar Movies:
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95% -- Ratatouille (2007)
75% -- Cars (2006)
97% -- The Incredibles (2004)
98% -- Finding Nemo (2003)
95% -- Monsters, Inc. (2001)
martinscorsese25 on 06-26-2008 05:05 PM
i really doubt wall e will beat kung fu panda in the box-office... its always the same every year... dreamworks beat pixar in the box-office even though pixar's films are far more superrior than any film dreamworks has done.... they said there are no dialouge for the first 30 minutes, kids won't love that, so kids might not want to watch it twice... and even though grown ups will love to watch this twice, kids still is the main audience for animation.. which sucks!!!! i hope children of the world will be smart in picking films, but you've got to give them a break, they are just kids...
quickshade on 06-26-2008 06:00 PM
WOW, I forgot some people can't do proper math.
Toystory: $191,796,233
A Bugs Life: $162,798,565
Toystory 2: $245,852,179
Monsters, Inc: $255,873,250
Finding Nemo: $339,714,97
The Incredibles: $261,441,092
Cars: $244,082,982
Ratatouille: $206,445,654
Lifetime Gross: $1,908,004,933
Dreamworks: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dwanimation.htm
Double the amount of movies as Pixar yet total income: $2,402,621,233
In fact only the top 5 Dreamworks movies have outranked the lowest Pixar income movie. Minus the 3 shrek sequels and only 2 of them have. and the compare to the 2 lowest income movies Pixar has. Shrek was great for Dreamworks and I'll admit it worked out well for them. But Dreamworks has not done better than Pixar at all. The fact that Wall-e should earn enough money to push Pixar into the 2.1-2.2 billion dollar range is great news. The fact that Pixar did it with only 1 sequel in their entire library and in 9 movies......well....shows how good they are.
This isn't a bash on Dreamworks, it's just simple math that some people can't do. Sure Pixar could push out subpar movies and sequels every year, But they don't. They release quality content, and still earn the same amount of money as other studios.
ffamilyguy on 06-26-2008 11:19 PM
Amen to that Quickshade. Pixar dominates pretty much in every category. And even though Cars was the lowest rated of the Pixar, it actually made more than any Pixar movie by far...simply because of merchandise sales. Think about it....what little boy wouldn't want a toy car. They sold over 50 million on just toys...not including other stuff like clothing and bed stuff, stickers, folders...etc..you name it, it was sold more than any other Pixar movie. NOW...who wants an INCREDIBLE Part 2. I Pray that they make it. Of all the Pixar movies, the Incredibles was probably the hippest/coolest Pixar movie. All of them are good, but The Incredibles was so damn entertaining and fun that I felt like a little kid again. Shoot I can go on for days about PIXAR. Dreamworks....has Shrek...I can't really think of any other CG movie that they have made...did they make Madagascar, cause that sucked.
Slipperypick on 06-27-2008 07:38 AM
I'm continually surprised and even a little amazed when people say that kids won't appreciate Wall-E's non-dialog aspects. Do these people have or know children? The fact is that dialog usually distracts the younger kids from what it is they really want to see. Kids could care less about what the characters SAY than what they DO.
I know my kids will love Wall E. I probably will love it even more. Pixar has never disappointed me.
Eggnog70 on 06-27-2008 03:32 PM
"i really doubt wall e will beat kung fu panda in the box-office... its always the same every year... dreamworks beat pixar in the box-office even though pixar's films are far more superrior than any film dreamworks has done.... they said there are no dialouge for the first 30 minutes, kids won't love that, so kids might not want to watch it twice... and even though grown ups will love to watch this twice, kids still is the main audience for animation.. which sucks!!!! i hope children of the world will be smart in picking films, but you've got to give them a break, they are just kids... "
I couldn't agree more, though I do think Wall-E will dominate in the box office this weekend but overall, Kung Fu Panda, which is supposedly quite good (I haven't seen it), will be the long term box office champ.