Timeless WALL-E Hardly Robotic
I worry about WALL-E. It seems odd to say such a thing about a movie, especially one from animation giants Pixar, but that’s just the way it is. The simple truth is that we live in a cinematic maelstrom where the quiet, where the calm and introspective, where the almost serene beauty of cinema at its finest is, not just forgotten, but shunned.
M-O and Wall-E make friends in Pixar/Disney's Wall-E
And what is it that audiences crave? Noise. The cacophony of violence (whether it be verbal, physical or a combination of the two). The concept that motion and commotion are entertaining in and of themselves. The idea that subtlety and character are misbegotten concepts and that video game esthetics of monstrous beasties pounding away at one another is the only things worth reveling in.
There is an irony here, of course, that I am bemoaning the computer-ization of motion pictures (there are times I think CGI has almost become a dirty word) in a review concerning the reigning kings of all things computer animated, Disney’s cash-cow partner Pixar. If there is a larger corporate entity than the Mouse House I’m not too sure what it is, and it isn’t like the majority of their fare goes against the currently depressive paradigm (with both of those anemic Pirates of the Caribbean sequels offering ample proof).
But none of which changes my central argument (or my central fear) that the bigger-is-better and louder-is-more-popular mindset is putting deeply passionate, original and highly intelligent features like WALL-E at risk. This is a movie that is, in a word, perfect. Like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and last year’s Ratatouille this one is another instant classic, the film a soaring testament to the enduring power of love going beyond simple explanations and descriptions to become an ethereally timeless wonder distinctly its own.
The thing is, WALL-E is so unlike anything else Pixar has ever done (let alone attempted) I’m not even sure where to begin. Echoing the brilliance of Chaplin and Keaton, infused with the heart and soul of Bresson and overflowing with the daringly eccentric spirit of Eisenstein, this nearly silent tale of the last working robot on Earth falling in love with a more advanced metal visitor is absolutely stunning. What director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) has accomplished borders on the miraculous, the visual wonderment only a precursor to the deeply emotional human – yes, I said human, who cares if it is about robots? – story transcending any and everything close to the norm.
Yet, while there are a couple of dynamic action set pieces, the majority of the film’s most poignant and moving moments are, quite literally, silent. This is a love story where the main characters can only say about three or four digitized words between them (courtesy of Star Wars sound technician Ben Burtt), and like Chaplin’s Little Tramp everything the hero wants to express is done with movement, the poetry of a raised mechanical eyebrow or the heart-wrenching pageantry of an outstretched rusty digit effortlessly speaking volumes of the heartfelt romance elegantly taking place.
(As you’ve probably noticed, I’m not talking very much about the storyline, mainly because I really don’t feel the need. The trailers and commercials do that good enough, and while much will be said about the film’s ecological bent or its apparent slam on humanity’s need for self-indulgent gluttony I seriously doubt I’m going to add anything new to the conversation. Yes, this movie talks about global warming and it also speaks about our continued indifference, and while it isn’t remotely preachy it ain’t exactly subtle, either.)
And so I sit and worry about WALL-E. It’s future isn’t secure, and while I’m pretty positive its place in the Pixar canon is going to someday be near the top, with audiences so inured to films reveling in quiet, subtlety and grace there is the chance this one’s brilliance might just clean pass them by. Hopefully that fear doesn’t become reality and all those humanoid souls trudging like idiotic mechanized automatons to the multiplex will wake up and discover a piece of transcendent animated entertainment the likes of which, sadly, might not come there way ever again.
- Review reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle
Film Rating: êêêê (out of 4)
