Wallll- Eeeeee

The Pixar machine rolls out yet another, fully-formulated, intergenerational, merchandise-friendly, and still all-around-touching piece of box-office gold.

It will take the number one spot in the numbers this weekend with about $62 mill at this point (for those interested, Wanted is making a hell-of-a, better-than-expected showing, as predicted). The question that remains now is whether or not it can become the biggest opener of the Pixar slate (having to top the Incredibles at 70.5 mill). Is it deserving of that kind of money? Absolutely.

While there is barely a word spoken for the first half hour of the movie, it could not be more captivating, and not just for the kids that filled the matinée I attended. WALL-E (whose design is straight out of Short Circuit, see: Johnny-5), is endearing and emotionally compelling. He is the only “living” resident left on Earth, save for his little cockroach friend, left to clean up the garbage that left by a wasteful consumer-culture. The piece of the story that keeps the parents (and college students) interested, is the social commentary present right from the start.

I know what you're thinking, another preachy film highlighting humanity's abuse of the planet and global warming and all that jazz. As a big opponent of movies that exploit that message (see: The Happening), I can say for certain that WALL-E focuses more on the laziness of humanity and our dependence on technology than the whole environmental thing – humans, while occupying a spaceship on hovering La-Z-Boys for 700 years or so, degenerate into formless blobs.

The heartwarming nature of the film comes from the love story between two robots (if Nemo can travel from a dentist office drain to the ocean, robots can fall in love). With the dailogue between the two mostly consisting of them calling each other's names (EVE, or EVA as WALL-E pronounces it, is the other robot who has been sent to search for plant life), the credit really goes to the animators here. Two cold metal objects, one looking very much like an Apple product (Pixar is a Steve Jobs brainchild), become distinct, full, and sometimes fiery, characters. They both have a twinkle in their eye, something Pixar has mastered, and souls that can make you feel sorry for the cell phone you traded in with your last upgrade. Also, the lack of defined gender roles is refreshing as there are no real sex determinants (the names maybe qualify but the character traits are traditionally reversed). EVE is often times dominant, aggressive, and trigger-happy, and WALL-E, an emotional romantic, craves affectionate touch and true love (and is a big fan of the classic musical, Hello Dolly).

Since the dialogue is lacking, a thrilling score by the established (read Ocsar-nominated) Thomas Newman ( The Good German, Finding Nemo) drives the feeling of the film. One moment he clanks along during the high-speed chase involving malfunctioning, misfit machines, and the next he's crafting a mid-space, robot ballet.

Oscar Gold?

Stanton, whose work has mostly been in screenplay writing, makes a solid directorial debut here. Oscar worthy? Probably not, but he'll have a few more productions coming his way after this if he wants to try for it. Every gear moves smoothly in tandem, and Stanton architects it all as a true cinematic engineer.

Some reviewers have thrown around the idea of WALL-E as a Best Picture contender (Disney has said they are pitching it as such). Despite the film's determination, I think is a little too soon to be saying. The Oscar season is just beginning (at this point last year, people heard Juno, they thought Alaska). I see it a shoe-in for Best Animated Feature, but with Cannes's finest about to hit the big screens, I think, I hope there is more to come in the big category.

Wrap Up

The movie falls under the Good Movie category. It causes some reevaluation of our reliance on computers (something the Millenials can never have to much of), contains some revolutionary aspects of the genre (a near-silent, wishy-washy robot headlining a film is more daring than Remy the rat last year; plus the animation is out of this world), and it might establish itself as a pop-cultural icon (this has still yet to be seen). It has proficiency is multiple aspects of the film-making process, but its recycling of the standard Pixar formula disqualifies it, in my mind, from being a Great Film.

PS

Someone asked me after I saw it, if I thought it topped Nemo? I still have to sit on this, maybe a second watch will affect my answer. What do you all think?