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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

They Did It Again

I went to see Wall-e yesterday, and it was about time. I was eagerly anticipating Pixar's new movie because, well, the Pixar people are nothing sort of geniuses when it comes to writing and creating movies. And yes, I know writing them is part of creating them, but their scripts are always so amazing that I thought I would emphasize the point.

I am glad to say that the movie, director Andrew Stanton's first since 2003's phenomenal Finding Nemo, is very enjoyable, tremendously cute, and terrifically made. The animation, the textures, the character designs, the backgrounds… Everything looks absolutely gorgeous (or awful, if it's meant to look that way). The sleek designs of new robots and ships and environments clashes with the older robots and shabby cityscapes, achieving an eye-popping degree of realism, both for things grounded in reality as well as for the more out-there devices. There is not a whole lot of dialogue, yet the movie is so well written and the Pixar prodigies are so adept at showing us instead of telling us, that words aren't really necessary most of the time.

There's comedy, there's romance, there's heart-wrenching drama, there's brutal satire, and there's social commentary. But, above all, and tying all these together, there's a wild imagination at work that's not only having fun, but making the audience have fun as well. Wall-e is, just in case you haven't figured it out already, one of those movies that make you forget about everything else for an hour and a half. Put it another way, Wall-e is great.

PS: And Presto, the short film that precedes Wall-e, is beyond hilarious!

6 comments:

huitzilin said...

Would you believe I've never seen Finding Nemo? As a matter of fact, I think the only Pixar film I've seen is The Incredibles. I saw part of Monsters, Inc. That's it.

Given your rave review, though, I think we may add Wall-E to our list of "films to see soon."

Anonymous said...

Finding Nemo is sort of okay. I gotta say that I liked The Incredibles much, much more.

But, if I were to choose just one Pixar film, I'd have to say Ratatouille. Undoubtedly it's one of the greatest movies of the new century.

On regarding Wall-E, now I want to see it even more. And I was already kind of anxious.

Mario Alba said...

All I can say then, Huitzy, is that you're missing out. The Incredibles is, along with Finding Nemo and Toy Story, my favorite Pixar movie. As a matter of fact, those three films are some of my favorite movies of all time, regardless of who made them. But you're lucky, my friend, because I own Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Toy Story 2, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles on DVD (I'm only missing Cars and Ratatouille), and you're welcome to watch any of the above when you're here :)

And I agree with Hal: Ratatouille rocks, especially if you like to cook! How come you, of all people, haven't seen this movie?

Anonymous said...

So, Fel... You have that beautiful Pixar movies collection, yet you're missing Ratatouille?

What is the matter with you?!?!

Mario Alba said...

The matter with me is that I usually wait for a while before buying the movies I want on DVD. The reason is twofold:

1. Since I have seen the movie recently, I don't feel like watching it again so soon.

2. That way, they 're much cheaper when I actually get them!

Anonymous said...

Alright then, have it your way.

Cheap...