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It is
an art form which has been absent since the days of Chaplin, if only
because it is mighty difficult to try and convey emotion, story and
humour via facial expressions.
Yet, not only has Stanton and
the
Pixar team achieved a phenomenal ability to convey a story through body
language - but they have conveyed it without a human body.
Wall-E
follows the story of one of earth's last robots (a Waste Allocation
Load Lifter Earth-Class) left behind on earth by the human race to fix
the lifeless mess they made themselves.
However, Wall-E (who looks like the inter-species spawn of Short Circuit and ET) soon discovers
a new purpose when he encounters a sleek search
robot names Eve (sent to Earth to search for any sign of sustainable
human life).
Eve
comes to realise that Wall-E has inadvertently
stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to the
Axium spaceport (which essentially shows what life will be like once
every aspect of human living is iPod-ised) to report her
findings
to the humans.
However, when Wall-E follows her - things soon get out of control...
There is very
little not to like about Wall-E.
It looks magnificent, it is clever, it is funny and it keeps things
simple.
However, is it a children's classic?
The thing is, Wall-E
is perhaps a little too smart for it's own good.
It's the sort of film
which will have the pompous film critics salivating over the political,
eco and moral messages conveyed (Fred Willard, as President of the
World, is spot on in his unsubtle satire on the Bush
Administration).
But, at the same time, it's probably not
"in your face" enough for Pixar's usual crowd, with the style more attuned with kiddies who haven't quite got
to the stage of speaking yet.
In that regard, it's both a brilliant
move and a cinematic achievement.
But what will the "Where's the
voice of Ben Stiller?" crowd think of it?
Is it a bit "slow"?
Is it a
tad "boring"?
Does not enough "happen"?
It really does depend on what
you are looking to get out of your CGI kids flicks.
For mine,
this is without doubt the most innovative films (both visually and
story telling wise) to hit the mainstream in years.
Whether
our current generation appreciate it at this point in time is
irrelevant, because much like the little robot hero in the film itself,
this is a style of film making which will live on forever, transcending
popular trends, language and society itself.
A must see. DVD EXTRAS
If there is one thing that Disney always gets right, it's DVD
extras. Not once have I come across a Disney release that hasn't been
given the 110% treatment when it comes to respecting the audience and
offering up value for money - and the Wall E extras are probably the best I've seen in a long time.
So that is really saying something.
The
two disc edition is the best way to go as it is positively packed with
stuff. Along with the commentaries, deleted scenes and varied
featurettes - there are also some supreme goodies in the form of the
short films BURN-E and the near perfect Presto.
There
is more and half the fun is just navigating it and discovering it
yourself - do yourself a favour and grab this as soon as you can. It's
also a perfect candidate for beginning your Blu-Ray collection, the
pictures are that sublime.
Conclusion:
Movie 85% Extras: 90%
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