Ok. Wall-E is officially in theaters and I am now able to talk about the film. I will first give a mostly spoiler free review and then go into detail. Highlight if you want to read more, otherwise wait until after seeing the film.
I absolutely loved Wall-E. For a film with such little dialog, I never got bored and the animator's did a fantastic job revealing emotions of the robots with only a few words ("Wall-E," "Eve," and "Directive"). Also, I really have to hand it to the sound effects department. They really had their work cut out for them seeing as every time 90% of the cast (which were robots) moved, there was a unique sound to each one that in a weird way, told you something about their personality. The score was brilliant. I bought the soundtrack as soon as it was available. I can't say enough great things about this film and honestly, I can't think of a single bad thing to say about it.
The rest of what I want to say is full of spoilers, so you've been warned. Highlight if you want to keep reading.
I rented Hello Dolly days before going to Pixar to see the film and I was glad I did because I think I understood why Wall-E formed a strong bond with Eve so quickly as a result. When "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" started playing as the camera panned through space, I got a little bit giddy (yes, like a schoolgirl). I also loved how Wall-E recorded "It Only Takes A Moment" and would play it for Eve to try to show her what he was feeling.
I really liked the contrast in the opening. From the peaceful feeling of space to the damaged and desperate view of Earth in the future. I was happy they didn't dwell on the negative. Clever gags with Wall-E exploring human junk were hysterical. I especially loved the items he would chose to keep and take back to his "home." Also, for those of you interested in hidden items in Pixar films, the person I saw this with swears they saw a stash of Toy Story Toys on one of the rotating shelves. I hope to catch it when I see this again, and hopefully other fun hidden things. I'm sure that Pizza Planet truck is in there somewhere. I was just so caught up in the story that I forgot to look.
I found Eve to be a little bit scary at first, but I think the score helped to display the beauty that Wall-E saw in her.
I was very nervous about how they would handle all of the humans being so fat and lazy, but I must say they pulled it off in a way that was funny without making you feel bad for the humans.
As for the surprising villian, I sort of saw it coming, but it was still entertaining.
For those of you still reading who haven't seen the film yet, I do hope that I didn't spoil anything for you that you couldn't have found out elsewhere (the junior novelization has been available for a while anyways).
I am excited to hear what other people think of the film.
Wall-E - Pixar's next film (after Ratatouille)
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goofystitch
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MadonnasManOne
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Thanks for your review, goofystitch! I can't wait to see it!
CNN.com has reviewed Wall-E:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/ ... index.html
Review: 'Wall-E' is a classic
(CNN) -- The most consistent production unit in Hollywood just hit another home run.
Over the last decade, Pixar has become a byword for quality, combining cutting-edge digital animation with depth of character, slapstick comedy and rich, engrossing storytelling that appeals equally to kids and adults. "Wall-E" has all of that and more.
Written and directed by Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo"), it's Pixar's most ambitious movie and an instant classic.
Wall-E is a solar-powered garbage drone, the last one still operating on an abandoned toxic planet that looks an awful lot like -- well, is -- Earth. A rusty box sitting on caterpillar tracks, with a retractable binocular-shaped head, he compresses junk into building blocks and then piles them up into towers that are shadow-skyscrapers of waste in the ruins of an unidentified city.
Electronic billboards still plug defunct products and bring us up to speed handily: Having polluted the planet with more waste than it could handle, globo-corporation Buy N Large evacuated its customers on a five-year space cruise ("The final fun-tier," promises the president, played by Fred Willard), leaving the robots to clean up the mess. Only their calculations were a little off. It's been 700 years, and Wall-E is still at work.
The opening half-hour is a delectable demonstration of visual storytelling. Although his vocabulary is limited to a bare handful of words, Wall-E, we gather, has developed more than a trace of consciousness. He's a hoarder, curious enough to collect unusual bric-a-brac: a whisk, an electric light bulb, bubble wrap. His most treasured item is a VHS tape of "Hello, Dolly."
His systems are scrambled when he bumps into Eve, a gleaming research pod from the mother ship whose sleek, egg-like design and distinctive start-up chime must be a wink to Pixar (and Apple) boss Steve Jobs.
At any rate, Eve is the apple of Wall-E's eye. He's so smitten, he'd follow her anywhere -- even outer space.
There's something special about Wall-E and his pursuit. Robots have been routinely humanized in sci-fi movies: in "Blade Runner," "A.I." and "Metropolis," for example. And "Wall-E" also isn't alone in implying that human beings are becoming more mechanistic ourselves, though the obese overgrown babies Stanton imagines reclining in hover chairs -- pampered and cocooned from birth -- is a more scathing caricature of consumer over-dependency than we'd expect to find in a Hollywood family film.
Indeed, Stanton's most obvious touchstones are Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" (at one point he treats us to a parodic blast of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" to signal a small baby step for man that's also a huge leap for mankind) and Douglas Trumbull's 1972 eco-parable "Silent Running": philosophical sci-fi films made only four years apart at another point of environmental sensitivity.
But the animating spirit here goes back much further, to the sentimental reveries and delightful improvisatory dexterity of Charlie Chaplin. In "Modern Times," made more than 70 years ago, Chaplin made play with the degrading effects of industrialized society. In "Wall-E," Stanton pitches us between a post-industrial wasteland embalmed in smog and the sterile, artificial atmosphere of a giant floating life-support system.
These aren't attractive prospects, but they are transformed by the little lovelorn robot, a lonely soul who seeks companionship anywhere he can get it ... in a cockroach, an old movie and a trigger-happy search robot.
"Wall-E" isn't a perfect movie; some business involving a team of rogue robots is unduly scrappy. But, mostly, this is a film filled with remarkable moments: a pas de deux in front of the Milky Way (with Wall-E propelled by a fire extinguisher), Eve's maternal glow as she carries out her primary directive, the fleeting moment when first-time space traveler Wall-E turns back, sees the Earth and tries to share his joy in the discovery.
Grace, beauty, joy, laughter and love. A wonderful combination for any movie. "Wall-E" is easily the best film of the year so far.
CNN.com has reviewed Wall-E:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Movies/ ... index.html
Review: 'Wall-E' is a classic
(CNN) -- The most consistent production unit in Hollywood just hit another home run.
Over the last decade, Pixar has become a byword for quality, combining cutting-edge digital animation with depth of character, slapstick comedy and rich, engrossing storytelling that appeals equally to kids and adults. "Wall-E" has all of that and more.
Written and directed by Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo"), it's Pixar's most ambitious movie and an instant classic.
Wall-E is a solar-powered garbage drone, the last one still operating on an abandoned toxic planet that looks an awful lot like -- well, is -- Earth. A rusty box sitting on caterpillar tracks, with a retractable binocular-shaped head, he compresses junk into building blocks and then piles them up into towers that are shadow-skyscrapers of waste in the ruins of an unidentified city.
Electronic billboards still plug defunct products and bring us up to speed handily: Having polluted the planet with more waste than it could handle, globo-corporation Buy N Large evacuated its customers on a five-year space cruise ("The final fun-tier," promises the president, played by Fred Willard), leaving the robots to clean up the mess. Only their calculations were a little off. It's been 700 years, and Wall-E is still at work.
The opening half-hour is a delectable demonstration of visual storytelling. Although his vocabulary is limited to a bare handful of words, Wall-E, we gather, has developed more than a trace of consciousness. He's a hoarder, curious enough to collect unusual bric-a-brac: a whisk, an electric light bulb, bubble wrap. His most treasured item is a VHS tape of "Hello, Dolly."
His systems are scrambled when he bumps into Eve, a gleaming research pod from the mother ship whose sleek, egg-like design and distinctive start-up chime must be a wink to Pixar (and Apple) boss Steve Jobs.
At any rate, Eve is the apple of Wall-E's eye. He's so smitten, he'd follow her anywhere -- even outer space.
There's something special about Wall-E and his pursuit. Robots have been routinely humanized in sci-fi movies: in "Blade Runner," "A.I." and "Metropolis," for example. And "Wall-E" also isn't alone in implying that human beings are becoming more mechanistic ourselves, though the obese overgrown babies Stanton imagines reclining in hover chairs -- pampered and cocooned from birth -- is a more scathing caricature of consumer over-dependency than we'd expect to find in a Hollywood family film.
Indeed, Stanton's most obvious touchstones are Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" (at one point he treats us to a parodic blast of "Also Sprach Zarathustra" to signal a small baby step for man that's also a huge leap for mankind) and Douglas Trumbull's 1972 eco-parable "Silent Running": philosophical sci-fi films made only four years apart at another point of environmental sensitivity.
But the animating spirit here goes back much further, to the sentimental reveries and delightful improvisatory dexterity of Charlie Chaplin. In "Modern Times," made more than 70 years ago, Chaplin made play with the degrading effects of industrialized society. In "Wall-E," Stanton pitches us between a post-industrial wasteland embalmed in smog and the sterile, artificial atmosphere of a giant floating life-support system.
These aren't attractive prospects, but they are transformed by the little lovelorn robot, a lonely soul who seeks companionship anywhere he can get it ... in a cockroach, an old movie and a trigger-happy search robot.
"Wall-E" isn't a perfect movie; some business involving a team of rogue robots is unduly scrappy. But, mostly, this is a film filled with remarkable moments: a pas de deux in front of the Milky Way (with Wall-E propelled by a fire extinguisher), Eve's maternal glow as she carries out her primary directive, the fleeting moment when first-time space traveler Wall-E turns back, sees the Earth and tries to share his joy in the discovery.
Grace, beauty, joy, laughter and love. A wonderful combination for any movie. "Wall-E" is easily the best film of the year so far.
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Voiceroy
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disneystore.com does ship to some areas in the UK:Ariel'sprince wrote:Anybody saw a cute WALL-E plush? I"ll try look for one.
http://img.dsi.go.com/content/global/gu ... tlShipping
The mini bean bag plush of Wall-E and EVE are selling out at Disney Stores. The large Wall-E plush is rapidly selling out too. The store I work at only had 4 left as of Thursday (that means that 3 cases of them have sold just since last weekend), the mini beans sold out completely, and two other Disney Stores in the district had called earlier in the day asking if we had any small or large plush left.
Again, you don't need to visit a Disney Store location to get these. Try disneystore.com, and while you're there sign up for the emails. They regularly send out notices with online-only promos, special discounts, and shipping discounts.Simba3 wrote:Those are really cute. I wish we still had a Disney store here.
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Ariel'sprince
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magicalwands
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Before watching this movie, I told myself to lower my expectations and you know what happens when you lower expectations, it just goes higher. Well, Wall-e met my expectations and more. I really love this movie. You guys will enjoy this one, I know it.
Presto wasn't as good as Pixar's past works. It was funny, but it wasn't clever like For the Birds or Knick Knack.
But anyways, have fun watching it this weekend everyone!
By the way, halfway through the movie 1/4 of the bottom of the screen went missing and started playing above the other 3/4 of it! But what it did was it made me unfocused on the movie for awhile and I felt "woken up" because the whole time I was so immersed in the movie. It was a great 95 minutes.
Presto wasn't as good as Pixar's past works. It was funny, but it wasn't clever like For the Birds or Knick Knack.
But anyways, have fun watching it this weekend everyone!
By the way, halfway through the movie 1/4 of the bottom of the screen went missing and started playing above the other 3/4 of it! But what it did was it made me unfocused on the movie for awhile and I felt "woken up" because the whole time I was so immersed in the movie. It was a great 95 minutes.
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blackcauldron85
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PeterPanfan
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Sharpay's poodle
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Disney/Pixar has done it again. I'm NOT so sure it will do well with kids, my theatre was filled with mostly adults, who all enjoyed it and gave it applause at the end. If you have kids who are restless, then they might not like this, but the 2 or 3 kids who were in the audience seemed very involved.
But I thoroughly enjoyed the film! Beautiful animation, sets, colors, and love story. It will make you laugh and cry. DEFINITELY go see it! Best movie I've seen this year no doubt.
But I thoroughly enjoyed the film! Beautiful animation, sets, colors, and love story. It will make you laugh and cry. DEFINITELY go see it! Best movie I've seen this year no doubt.
I thought the movie was brilliant, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ever since I saw the trailer for this film, I knew there was going to be something really special about this film. I think the film had a lot of heart; the colors are beautiful, the characters are wonderful and lovable, and the story was intriguing as well. I agree with those who say it might not be as big of a hit with the little tikes, just because there is so little dialogue and it might be a bit harder for them to understand what is going on. However, I think this is one of Pixar's biggest successes. I think the film as a whole was sort of a "leap of faith" for Pixar and I think they nailed it. This is a GREAT film.
Last edited by Simba3 on Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Flanger-Hanger
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Flanger-Hanger
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it's everything you could want with a movie, I agree with someone else on another board who said that you can't just describe the movie you just have to go see it. It will involve all your emotions, it looks amazing, you're completely engaged with the story and you will believe a robot can love and be cuter than Johnny 5 (however impossible that may sound).Prudence wrote:Give me a REASON, please.
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singerguy04
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magicalwands
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I disagree. Children can easily understand movement more than dialogue. I am very sure that they will easily get more bored with another movie than Wall-e. Pixar has done a great job with giving emotion to these robots so kids will have no trouble understanding the movie.Simba3 wrote:I agree with those who say it might not be as big of a hit with the little tikes, just because there is so little dialogue and it might be a bit harder for them to understand what is going on.
And Prudence, a reason you should see it: for another perspective on what the future might be like. I am Legend was one, Wall-e is another.
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Skellington or Sparrow
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I heart Disneyland 
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blackcauldron85
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It says "2 Disc Collector's Edition", so surely it's a fake!JDCB1986 wrote:found this while looking around at some blogs...
almost certainly not real... so soon ?
but cute none the less.
Prudence, it'll make you laugh. It'll make you cry. It has heart and great characters, and a great story! You should SEE IT!!!!!!
