Rob (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} robyrt) wrote,@ 2008-07-02 10:31:00 |
|
Movie Review: Wall-E
On an impulse, I went and saw Wall-E last night with the McCommas clan. We were practically the only people in the theater for a 10pm Tuesday G-rated movie, so I got to make lots of snide comments about the (generally awful) previews.
This movie basically restored my faith in Pixar after their last couple of movies, which were like regular movies slowed down so that you would get every detail on the first showing. It's the first genuinely childlike movie I've seen in a long time, and as such it radiates wonder and charm. Basically, this blows all those postmodern, winking movies aimed at already-jaded kids out of the water, and I would easily see it again (although paying another $10 would be a stretch).
Not many people remember Short Circuit, but it seems to be the major inspiration for Wall-E himself, although they've removed his eyelashes and replaced his voice with R2-D2 (Ben Burtt, sound designer, really makes this movie tick) and replaced his female sidekick with a capricious girl robot. These two characters basically carry the movie on their shoulders, and are amazingly able to support a predictable plot, an unsettling and weird premise, and a total disregard for physics. On the plus side, having HAL resort to fisticuffs is always good for a few laughs, and our hero is so likeable that we are willing to endue upwards of 30 minutes of romantic comedy awkwardness, plus the obligatory Zany Minor Characters.
On an impulse, I went and saw Wall-E last night with the McCommas clan. We were practically the only people in the theater for a 10pm Tuesday G-rated movie, so I got to make lots of snide comments about the (generally awful) previews.
This movie basically restored my faith in Pixar after their last couple of movies, which were like regular movies slowed down so that you would get every detail on the first showing. It's the first genuinely childlike movie I've seen in a long time, and as such it radiates wonder and charm. Basically, this blows all those postmodern, winking movies aimed at already-jaded kids out of the water, and I would easily see it again (although paying another $10 would be a stretch).
Not many people remember Short Circuit, but it seems to be the major inspiration for Wall-E himself, although they've removed his eyelashes and replaced his voice with R2-D2 (Ben Burtt, sound designer, really makes this movie tick) and replaced his female sidekick with a capricious girl robot. These two characters basically carry the movie on their shoulders, and are amazingly able to support a predictable plot, an unsettling and weird premise, and a total disregard for physics. On the plus side, having HAL resort to fisticuffs is always good for a few laughs, and our hero is so likeable that we are willing to endue upwards of 30 minutes of romantic comedy awkwardness, plus the obligatory Zany Minor Characters.
