It's easily the best Pixar production, likely one of the best Disney films, and equally likely to be considered one of the best science-fiction films ever made. However good Kung Fu Panda allegedly is, Dreamworks still has miles and miles to go before they'll create something as breathtakingly sophisticated as Wall-E.
Thankfully the trailers don't give much away - what's seen in the trailers occurs all in the first third of the film, leaving most of the story as a surprise to the audience. The real action begins once Wall-E leaves Earth - I won't spoil anything except to say that this film is Mike Judge's Idiocracy done right.
Even the short film that precedes the feature, about a magician, his rabbit, and a magic hat, is excellent, and harkens back to the best Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry cartoons, with some satisfyingly hilarious and violent gags.
Thank you Andrew Stanton and Pixar for reminding me what it's like to watch a movie with wide eyes.
13 comments:
I love that the first thing you do when you go home is draw a picture.
You're the best
This is exciting. I was looking forward to seeing this - now even more so.
I didn't know you had a blog. I'm going to cyber-stalk you now.
That drawing brings a warming feeling to my cold heart.
This is a DVD box cover quote:
"Thank you Andrew Stanton and Pixar for reminding me what it's like to watch a movie with wide eyes."
masterpiece! ;-)
i love this photo! his innocence is refreshing.
"this film is Mike Judge's Idiocracy done right"
Wow. That is EXACTLY the same thing I said after leaving the theatre this weekend.
The "Idiocracy done right" comment is bang on. But I do not think that Wall-E is the best thing Pixar has done. It is only topped by The Incredibles and Ratatouille. I think that there is such magic when Brad Bird and Pixar team up that I kind of wish that Brad Bird was their official house director.
But with that said, the fact that Wall-E is not the best Pixar movie but is still so far and away better than anything in the theatres since, well since Ratatouille really, is a hell of a testament to both the movie itself and to Pixar as a creative entity. I love how their stuff is classic and timeless in a way that Dreamworks will never be. I spend far too much time thinking about why and how that is.
Choosing what Pixar film is the best one is sort of a futile task, as they're all fantastic (even Cars, which is the weakest in my opinion, is still excellent compared to most animated features). I love Brad Bird and his films for Pixar to death but I choose WALL-E as the studio's best because of its ambition - I don't think any film from an American animation studio has ever tried to expand the public consciousness of what animation can be used for as much as WALL-E has. It tackles some pretty grand, bleak themes, is ballsy as hell for spending the entire first act with almost no dialogue, and has some pretty incredible technical achievement (famed cinematographer Roger Deakins was brought on as a consultant, something that's unheard of in animation history). As much as I love all the PIxar movies I think WALL-E represents a massive leap forward for the artform.
Dreamworks fails because they take the wrong approach - they stuff the movies full of big celebrity names and pop culture jokes to appeal to the mass market. Pixar's movies work because they don't answer to the marketing department and every creative decision is made based on what works best for the story.
Damn right. I am across an old blog post of mine where I made this distinction: Dreamworks' priority is maximizing the movie as product, Pixar's is maximizing the movie as art. I doubt anyone will be watching Madagascar 20 years from now, but I'll bet money they'll still be watching Toy Story.
I wished I hadn't seen Madagascar 20 seconds after I finished watching.
j.
p.s. Loved Wall-E in every way possible.
Wall-E totally looks like the robot from "Short Circuit"... minus the cheesy 80's style of course
Wall E was excellent, but part of me wanted the Human Race to not have survived in outer space. Obviously that would be too dark, but it's a better lesson.
Ratatouille is still my favourite just because to this day I'm still trying to process what makes every square inch of this film great.
It could just have been that Brad Bird magic.
Just picked up Apocalipstix finally!
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