Technology & MSG

WALL-E

Jul 7th, 2008 by Alex

Wall-E movie poster I saw WALL-E last Friday night and loved it. I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie with a G rating in the theater, let alone enjoyed it this much. Sometimes I see a movie and think I’ll have to pick that up on DVD because I know I’ll want to see it again. After seeing WALL-E, I left the theater thinking that I’d gladly spend an extra $10 to see it again. Whether or not I’ll get around to doing so doesn’t change that feeling.

The opening and closing credits were done in an abstract painting technique. This is fairly unique for Pixar. It isn’t a style that embodies their cutting edge processes, but it’s both neat and a departure from the norm.

The color and animation quality is top notch, though at this point it’s what we expect of Pixar after numerous gorgeously-done movies. No worries, they still deliver. WALL-E (the main character) is engaging and cute, and though entirely composed of machinery he inspires his human counterparts to be more human. He’s clearly old and worm yet toils diligently without minimal interaction. It’s touching. He has his own personal style and will be immediately likable by children and parents alike.

There were some justifiable social knocks at Wal-Mart, laziness, fast food gluttony that goes on in the world, and our inability to control the technology that we create. The large portion mega-store reminded me of Idiocracy but without the added profanity. This aspect of the movie isn’t exactly subtle, but it’s done in a way that won’t distract the kids or detract from the story. Parents and other adults might give it an extra thought or two after the fact. I got a chuckle about all of the references to Steve Jobs.

Sometimes less is more. This is especially so in terms of dialogue. There’s a lot of writers out there trying so hard to write witty and funny scenes, but failing miserably. That isn’t to say that there aren’t those who can write good stuff or that the bad stuff isn’t amusing to watch, but the good stuff seems harder to come by these days. In the case of WALL-E, there wasn’t much in the way of dialogue for the bulk of the film (especially for the main robotic characters) and it couldn’t have been better. I was curious how the animators would follow up after The Incredibles, but there was a lot of expression in the faces and body language of the robots pictured. More than I ever thought possible, though now that I think about Pixar’s cute lamp mascot I should have figured. In any case, the lack of dialogue didn’t matter one bit. You’ll feel yourself feeling bad for WALL-E, feeling sad, getting excited, cheering him on, and experiencing everything anew as he does… all without words.

WALL-E is incredible.

Beforehand we stopped off at DuClaw for some grub. I tried their Consecration brown ale (good) and their Naked Fish chocolate raspberry stout (excellent). I usually get the Turkey sandwich on a pretzel roll but I was feeling like something different, so I got the Baja Chicken Salad Sandwich ($7.49) with fries ($0.50 extra). The sandwich was excellent, chicken perfectly cooked and juicy with just a touch of heat. I’d definitely get it again. The fries were tasty without any additional seasonings, but were quick to cool and become soggy. If I were to get the fries again I’ll have to remember to eat ‘em while they’re hot.

Oh, there aren’t any Pixar post-credit goodies. Just in case you were thinking about staying until the very end, you don’t need to.