Movie Review: Wall-E

The short of it: 7 out of 8 Nations.

The long of it: The Incredibles is still my favorite Pixar flick, but let me tell ya, Wall-E is a very close second. As in, by the hair of my chinny chin chin second.

This movie is a good reminder of how much of an audio-visual medium movies are. Consider this - Wall-E was at least an hour and a half, and the total dialogue spoken in the film was not even 20 minutes (if that). The movie, for the most part, relied on how silent films - the roots of the movie experience - conveyed its story to the audience: physical movements of the characters, body language, facial expressions (look at the eyes of Wall-E and Eve, they pretty much tell the whole tale of what they were feeling at any given moment), and of course, music.

Wall-E, quite possibly, may be the most lovable character Pixar has ever produced. He's over 700 years old, but is an innocent soul. He is so earnest, and just wants to love and be loved. He also has such a desire to share himself and everything he has with Eve, whom he falls in love with at first sight. Having faced loneliness for so long, Wall-E was not willing to go back into to that abyss and did everything in his power not to. How can you not pull for someone like that?

Yes, the movie is quite heavy handed with the social commentary, but you really won't care because of how good the entire package is. You have to admire how Pixar is taking risks and not content to rest on their laurels. I mean, last year, their big star was a rat - not exactly the most marketable animal now is it? This year, Wall-E (the film), is at its core, the love story of two robots. And not only that, the star is a machine who does not talk at all. He just wins you over purely on personality, the way Charlie Chaplin did in his movies. Amazing, when you think about it.

Let me conclude this review with a simple statement of fact: Folks, this is a film for the ages; do not miss it.