Movie Review: WALL-E

9/10

Regular readers (both of them) will be well aware that I am solidly of the opinion that Pixar are incapable of making a bad movie. A couple (Bug's Life, Cars) didn't float my boat as much, but are still fine examples of modern family entertainment. With the viewing of WALL-E I believe I have seen all their work and can make this statement with some authority:

When they are on form they are almost unassailably good.

In previous offerings, most notably Toy Story 2 and Ratatouille they managed to tread the line that almost noone else can, between kid friendly and yet rewarding to adult viewers with so much skill it looked effortless.

With WALL-E even by their own high standards they have scored big.

It tells the tale of the eponymous little robot who has been left on Earth to tidy up all the garbage choking it to death, while mankind goes off on a cruise.

His existence is fairly repetitive, though in years of solitude he has developed a personality and collects little bits of junk that capture his imagination. His soitude is interrupted, however, one day when EVE lands on earth, a sleek iPod styled robot who seems to be searching for something.

That's the whole premise, and in the first half we are shown, virtually dialogue free, an enchanting portrait of our leads - the dinky little robot and his sleeker companion. It encompasses romance, beautiful scerey and slapstick in a high point, if not only of animated cinema, but also cinema more generally.

It is inevitable then that the following section (some would say - "the plot") is not as perfectly realised and some missteps are made.

For example - I love Fred Willard. Genius - Best In Show, Spinal Tap? Great. He's also very good and very funny here as the President of the Company/Governemt who got Earth in trouble, but, and this is the key - it's ACTUALLY Fred Willard. Not his voice, not a MoCap facsimile like in Beowulf - it is actually him. On film.

This isn't a problem while WALL-E and Eve are on Earth with no comparison piece around, but as soon as you see the human race the use of actual film footage of Willard jars. Why, if he is real, are the humans CGI? And if (as is preferable), the humans are CGI why is he real? Sigh...

I also have reservations about the manipulative "oh no!" moment at the end (post repair - you'll know when you see it) which is hastily done away with for no more logical reason than we need a happy ending and just rang a tad trite considering the film's mature earlier approach.

But these are more minor problems than the time I am giving them reflects so I'll stop now.

Ben Burtt (he of R2-D2 and tie fighter sound fame) supplies the major character voices and all the sound design and he does a marvelous job, designing bloops, beeps and squawks that, as in the classic R2 style convey a whole range of emotions without ever completing anything approaching a sentence.

Earth is magnificently realised as a post urban decay nightmare, a nadir of littering and depopulation - it is testament to Pixar's commitment to their tale that they have no problem showing the robotic equivalent of a banch of rotting corpses (all exact replicas of our hero) being used for spare parts - something a more squeamish studio would have taken out at the pre-screenings phase.

The all too short space journey too is magical as it is a welcome change of pace. As with the story, the human spaceship is just not as interesting as Earth, but the bar is, by this point, set so high it is nigh on impossible to jump.

I have no hesitation in recommending it to your viewing pleasure. Enjoy. The first forty minutes are peerless in the field.

A

P.S. The DvD copy I had featured two "shorts" by Pixar Studios. One of which, BURN-E was a Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead type thing where it takes place parallel to the main movie as a little robot attempts to make a minor repair while at each step the main film's characters get in the way and cause more damage. It's OK, but not particularly inspiring. The other one, Presto, was exceptional, telling the tale of a Rabbit who causes his magician friend all sorts of Magic Hat related trouble because the guy won't feed the poor bunny. It's pure slapstick and just five to ten minutes of pure fun.