Everybody else has already said it and probably more eloquently, but: if you have not already done so, go see WALL-E as quickly as humanly possible. It is probably the best picture Pixar have ever made.
Let me repeat that to make sure it sinks in: this is the best movie that Pixar Studios have ever made.
(If there is a creative force on this planet equivalent to Shakespeare in his prime, folks, it’s working for Pixar.)
EDIT TO ADD: And since a couple of people have asked me now: yes, it’s also a fantastic children’s movie. I always try to catch a matinee of any Pixar release because I like to see how the intended market takes it, and A) my theatre was crammed and B) the kids around me were goggling, enraptured, completely and absolutely lost in the story.
People forget that storytelling without using words is exponentially more difficult than simple dialogue, and vast chunks of this movie are completely dialogue-less, which just makes the creative achievement here all the greater; this isn’t just Pixar topping their previous works (which already set the bar for excellence in animation and in movies in general), this is Pixar topping themselves after they intentionally handicapped themselves. It’s utterly unbelievable how perfect their achievement is.
Also, the short (“Presto”) is ludicrously good.
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I agree 100%. I love everything Pixar’s done, but WALL•E just blows everything else away. This is Pixar’s masterpiece.
Well I wasn’t sure but now I am. Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll go this week.
Seriously, it’ll be a crime if it doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.
I shall have to see it. Unfortunately, my free passes were for Wanted on Thursday.
I thought it was a pretty good movie and a fun ride, mainly because it deviated greatly from the original comics. Deviated greatly, as in, not even CLOSE to the original material, save for some names. 🙂
(Sorry, I recently read the Wanted TPB, and I was woefully unimpressed. Mark Millar trying to be edgy with villains on villains and no heroes while trying to out-profanity Frank Miller. It was like a dark mirror of Civil War that was trying to be “edgy”.)
Whereas my free passes were for Hancock on Thursday.
I was pleasantly surprised — I was hoping for a silly, entertaining antihero flick, and a surprising amount of story somehow snuck into the movie….
Really? But… Incredibles…
At the end of it I turned to my companion and said “The only love story half as affecting in the past decade was Finding Nemo.”
Yes, the only love story that beat one about robots is a romantic comedy about fish.
“Deviated greatly, as in, not even CLOSE to the original material, save for some names.”
That had more to do with when the rights were optioned than Hollywood mangling it, AFAIK.
But we also don’t need 300 or Sin City’s level of slavish devotion to the source material, either.
In regards to Wanted? Better that it was mangled, regardless of the reason. The movie was far superior to the comic, IMHO. 🙂
It really IS THAT GOOD, though I still love the Incredibles and Ratatouille. Green ogres my @$$.
But go see it already; if too many people oversell it, it’ll start turning others off. But they took a helluva chance on this one.
Joecab, if it’s that good, they knew they weren’t taking a chance.
Loved it too. I saw it twice, once with a 4 year old and a 7 year old (who both adored it), and once with my friends. Amazing.
Although the anti-globalization message was a tad ironic coming from Disney, but I’ll take what I can get.
Can’t wait to see this. I’m actually looking forward to the short. Pixar’s shorts are nearly all golden.
With the exception of “Boundin’.”
Which was considerably less.
This was one of those movies I loved so much, I kind of didn’t want to have post-movie conversations. Because other people were all like, “Well, that was pretty cute! With the little robots and all! I thought it was fun!” and I was like, “…no, that movie was GOD DAMN AMAZING. And fucked up. In an AMAZING way.”
(When I go to see it a second time, though, I will follow a friend’s suggestion and watch it with the assumption that WALL-E is in fact a girl robot and EVE a boy robot. As best I can recall, canon [unless you count the advertising campaign] does not preclude this reading.)
I was utterly amazed that they snuck that much social commentary into the movie.
Also, I described the film to my parents this morning in exactly the way MGK just did- as the best Pixar movie ever.
While many (here and elsewhere) talk about Wall-E’s “message, apparently it’s not intentionally there. Frpm an interview of Writer/Director Andrew Stanton done by the ‘Globe and Mail’:
G&M: This film has a big ecological message –
AS: Actually, no.
G&M: No? The world of the future is overflowing with garbage.
AS: Yeah, well I did that for other reasons. I just went with logic. I had no eco thing to push. I had to have everybody leave Earth, because I wanted the last robot on Earth. And then I needed something very visual, that made him feel like he was the lowest on the totem pole, that wouldn’t require any dialogue to understand it. Trash is very get-able. One, you don’t have to explain it – people see too much of it and they get it. And then second, it has all those human artifacts in it, so it allowed him to show through actions that he’s interested in humanity.
G&M: Inevitably, someone will point out that –
AS: Sure, that’s fine! But I’m not going to stand there and go, “That’s what I was trying to do.”
G&M: But you’re depicting a future world cluttered with junk, and meanwhile there will be tons of WALL-E-generated toys, lunch boxes, T-shirts and candy wrappers.
AS: Possibly. Possibly. [An awkward, fixed-look pause passes]. I was just trying to make the best film I could.
But is it iron giant good? (yes I know thats not pixar but its still the best animated movie in my mind)
It’s Iron Giant good and then some. And I love Iron Giant.
Yes, the only love story that beat one about robots is a romantic comedy about fish.
Same guy, too!
“(When I go to see it a second time, though, I will follow a friend’s suggestion and watch it with the assumption that WALL-E is in fact a girl robot and EVE a boy robot.)”
eeeeehhhhhhhhh. So you’d rob little girls of having a strong, tough, take-charge hero to look up to? And you’d rather have the girl take care of the guy when he goes into hibernation? I actually found the non-traditional gender roles to be quite refreshing.
I concur–this movie was just beautiful.
Also, they’re robots. It doesn’t matter which is male or which is female because…well, robots. So really, whatever way people want to read it seems fine. I tried pretty hard just to not assign them genders at all. They don’t lose any emotional impact that way.
It’s a very good movie. It’s probably the best movie Andrew Stanton has directed by himself. It’s not better than Incredibles, Ratatouille, or the Toy Story movies, though. If it had maintained the quality of the first half throughout the running time, it would have a shot. But the second half is a teensy, tiny bit muddled, and it can’t quite decide if it’s a biting satire or a big-hearted, optimistic call to action. Also, the “villain’s” motivation is a little muddled.
Please bear in mind I’m grading on a curve here. It’s still a Pixar movie, and thus, brilliant.
this is Pixar topping themselves after they intentionally handicapped themselves.
Tour de force.
Really? But… Incredibles…
Incredibles was crap.
Saw it this afternoon, absolutely fargin amazing. The emotion and character they manage to convey is incredible.
I have to disagree with prankster though, the motivation of the “Villain” isn’t muddled at all. (don’t want to spoil anything by saying more.)
Well, maybe not “muddled” as “mysteriously undefined”. Metaphorically, I get it, but as a character, I was asking, “why?”
“While many (here and elsewhere) talk about Wall-E’s ‘message’, apparently it’s not intentionally there”
You’re not familiar with the way artists talk.
e.g. Bob Dylan disclaimering his political songs.
The guy is obviously pretty smart and in touch with NUANCE — thus, dissipated, except he apparently created a great work of art.
Damn Good.
BLEW MY FUCKING MIND!!! THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!! WALL-E should win ALL the oscars and then some.