Holy crap… Me? Seeing a movie? While still in theaters? Who would have thunk it? The far more surprising fact is that it was me AND The Woman. I’ve at least caught a few of the more guy-friendly flicks in the couple years. She can’t even remember the last time she stepped foot in a theater. But today made for a nice change of pace as I had taken the afternoon off and we were both excited to see WALL-E.
So, the verdict?
Wow. Awesome. I’m truly impressed with the depth of the future dystopia they created for a children’s movie. Yes, I know these films work for adults, too (I’m a BIG Pixar fan), but this one had a truly bleak look for a good portion of time. And the minimal dialogue through the first half somehow does not hold anything back. Instead we get some impressive character development just by watching WALL-E go through his daily grind of stacking garbage broken up by his occasional find of a “treasure”.
It’s hard to judge this film in comparison with the rest of the Pixar catalog as it is a very different beast. While it contains many of your typical fairy tale/kid’s movie elements, the cold and inhuman environment and storytelling that is dominant in the first half separates it from the rest. But in spite of that and the odd, speech-limited characters, it is their first true love story. And it works surprisingly well in this context – I honestly started to feel a real connection with these supposed buckets of bolts.
I’m a big fan of Pixar’s work, and they certainly lived up to the expectations once again.