WALL•E Reviews

[Sky]

Walleuse - Yeah, every time I see WALL•E I just want to pick up and and cuddle him like a baby. I think the big eyes bring out the mothering instinct.

[Walleuse]

I’ve just seen Wall-E for the second time, before it runs out of theaters.
It’s the first time I’m going to see a movie twice, and +, twice in a month !
And I loved it, again. I’ll tell you why tomorrow, 'cause it’s 2:00 am here, and I’m very tir…zzzzz.

[thedriveintheatre]

Here are several reviews from Sydney’s local newspapers. Generally they are full of compliments for Wall-E.

The first is from Sydney Morning Herald. I liked the second-last paragraph where he made an analogy between Wall-E and Eve’s love and the tenacious relationshop of Pixar and Disney now.

The second is from the Sun Herald (the Sunday edition of SMH). It sung many praises for this movie. Here’s some of the kudos from the piece:

“Is this the best film of 2008? Absolutely. If anything better happens along in the months that remain, it will have to be an absolute masterpiece…
…And for anyone watching without a functioning heart or head, there is still the prospect of being completely carried away by some of the most beautiful, soulfully composed images ever projected onto a cinema screen.”

The third is from the Daily Telegraph. I read their feature article (Be sure to watch their two online videos for an interview with Mr Stanton, Mr Burtt and Wall-Ehimself!) and the review on paper. I liked this quote in particular, from the review, which basically sums up what’s wrong with animation today.

At a time when family fantasies have become increasingly reliant on witty oneliners and self-referential storylines, Wall-E charts a brave new course in animation.

The final one is from The Australian. It’s also in favour of Wall-E, and though it says Wall-E is not above “ingratiating gimmickry and cuteness”, it counterargues that:

…Stanton’s achievement has been to weld the conventions of popular animated storytelling to ideas of great daring and some importance. The result is a rich and provocative work of art that manages to be fun.

I’ll post my own review of this magnificently stupendous film when I’ve had time to gather my thoughts. Ooh…

[Sky]

Thanks for those reviews, thedriveintheatre. I didn’t expect the Aussie media to “get” WALL•E as much as they did. All of those reviews a very flattering, that’s great news.

Here’s a scan from the Australian version of Rolling Stone magazine. It may be the same review from the US version of the magazine, though. I don’t come across this sort of rating too often with RS, and the review is… well, you’ll just have to read it yourself. link

And here’s the verdict from David and Margaret from At the Movies. Margaret always annoys me because she has admittedly never bought into “animated films” because she can’t get past the fact that it’s animated. In this review she even praises animation, but for the wrong reason - she should have praised the script for carrying our attention! Oh well. David has always had a similar taste as me, anyway. link

[Al-Bob]

My Review…

Entertainment…9/10
Excitement…8.5/10
Storyline…8.5/10
Characters…9.5/10

Overall Rating…9/10

Overall a great film that will mark new standards for pixar feature films. A must see for the entire family and extended family.

[Mark-E]

Sorry…it’s a bit long. This is a review I wrote ages ago when I first saw the movie. There may very well be spoilers in there. So BE WARNED…SPOILERS BELOW.

I want to tell you that you should go and see Wall-E…in fact, I probably already have. But I shouldn’t have to, it’s Pixar….you should have already seen it.

Obviously there’s a lot of hubbub about the whole anti-consumerism message in the movie, and don’t get me wrong. It’s a good message and everything. But that’s not what makes the movie so wonderfully charming. Err…well, mm.

The movie probably resonates with me so well is because the first half of the movie seems to adopt the mentality of a silent movie. Silent movies, which I really like, Wall-E appears to share the same kind of childish optimism about everything in the same way that the tramp from Chaplin’s movies does. Sharing other resemblances with the tramp would be the simple goals that Wall-E often tries to achieve, whether it is getting a job done or just trying to hold a girl’s hand. He has the same working class outlook on life which is always going to be relatable. He has a job, he does his job. His joys in life are few and far between but he doesn’t let it get him down despite a gentle sigh here and there.

Then you have Eve. Who resembles the same archetype of the Chaplin film label, usually a high class lady or someone who is completely oblivious to the tramp (or Wall-E’s) utter devotion and dedication to them. Of course, they are concerned with more important matters. Whether it revolves around helping a sick child or finding out whether life can be sustained on earth…you know stuff like that. There’s your set up, A homage to the silent film era, using music to convey a feeling, or actions to do completely the same.

And so we leap from one homage of cinema to another, this seems impossible when you think about it. Until you realise that they are robots, then the jump from silent movie to science fiction adventure seems to just fit into place.

On one hand there isn’t particularly a villain within the piece. The corporation had seemingly good intentions, but in doing so doomed the world. Where as most of the robots are just following protocol. Their actions aren’t particularly worthy of the brand “Villain”. But then, one of the themes of this movie seems to be revolving around each character breaking out of what they’re supposed to be doing. There are plenty of instances in the film where characters are constantly stepping out of boundaries that were created by regulations. The line that sums up this movie the most would be “I don’t want to survive, I want to live!” I think it’s no surprise that the only character who seems to meet their demise is the one who couldn’t step out of what they were programmed to do, or their way of life. Ultimately it condemns them. Heck, even the defective robots get to break free of the shackles, proving that they’re more than just broken parts, or faulty.

And I suppose overall, if you’re going to have a message in a movie, it may as well be a message like this. I’d rather be told that anyone can achieve their goals as long as they’re dedicated, rather than the opposite. It can obviously be called “preachy” but if I was a child, I’d rather be preached something like this, or anything rather than the usual kid’s movie logic of “how many laughs can we fit into 80 minutes”

It may seem like a little biased towards Pixar, and don’t be fooled…I am. But considering that with every single picture they make, it incorporates a theme and a message. I’ll take a cooking rat over a kicking panda any day. In fact, I’ll take a trash compacting robot over a green ogre any day!

This movie is brilliant; it takes a while to set in. But when you think about it, a movie that manages to have so many different themes and ideas contained within a rather simplistic love story has got to be a pretty major achievement. It never overstays its welcome, and just in case you get sick of watching the robots interacting with each other and the world around them (which you won’t) Before you know it, you’re swept into a huge adventure to try and save the earth, and of course…a robot dancing with his girlfriend and a fire extinguisher.

Ahem…apologies for the length.

[SpicySalsa]

eh, I really didn’t like Wall-e that much.

please don’t kill me! xD

[The_Star_Swordsman]

No one is going to kill you. THats okay if you don’t like WALL-E as much as others. Join the club.

[Rostron2]

Wall-E made me re-order my priorities in terms of favorite Pixar films. It now stands as #1, but I like them all for different reasons. Mostly, I just just appreciate the storytelling skill that has gone into Wall-E and its brethren. Working a little in the entertainment business myself, its sometimes shocking to me how people can’t tell a good piece of work from a bad. This film is so clearly superior to anything of its genre, it makes me happy just looking at a picture of the characters.

The level of attention to detail, the little inside jokes, etc. There’s not a wasted frame in the entire film.

[snowflake]

it was a great movie . i found him very cute, hope they make a sequel

[Sandycohen]

Wall E was a great movie and also i want to mention that i like the Inglorious duck shown above! that’s so funny!