Wall-E

[tealin]

Because I work for the company that's releasing it, and because it's animation, I get to see Wall-E twice for free! The first time was Wednesday night, when they showed it at the studio for animation employees and their families; the second is a Prince Caspian-like booking of an entire Burbank cinema on Saturday to show the rest of the company and their guests. This gives me the chance to do a two-pronged review, encapsulating my first impressions and what I take away from the movie the second time. I don't know if that is terribly interesting to anyone but me, but you're free to skip it if you wish. I shall endeavour to avoid spoilers whenever possible, but I can't vouch for the comments.

First Impressions:

Overall very sweet but in a good way. The plot is, naturally, very well-constructed; setups pay off, character drives a good deal of the story but not so much that it's bogged down in navel-gazing ... there's only so much psychology to explore in a robot, I suppose. Plenty of in-jokes as well, but luckily the folks at Pixar know where to draw the line (or render it, haha) between amusing and distracting. The only things that bothered me, really, were little (but sometimes crucial) logic gaps. I could list them but they're practically all spoilers, including the ending, though the more I think about the ending I come to a conclusion that it's not so much a logic gap as Saying Something Larger. When most of the world has seen this movie, maybe I'll write it up behind a cut or something. Anyway, I've forgotten most of them so I guess they weren't that important. In the meantime, come to your own conclusions. Speaking of which, the whole environmental aspect was, I thought, fairly well-handled. Obviously the illustration of the degree to which humanity has fouled the earth speaks louder than words, but there isn't as much banging the audience on the head and saying 'You! Idiots! Stop! Wasting!' as I was expecting, or as preliminary press had made it sound. And that's certainly not the only message of the movie. They're not quite spelled out in large double-spaced capital letters, but whichever moral people find (there are several to choose from) is probably one the Pixarians put there on purpose.

Animators get a big kudos for injecting so much personality into what ought to be lifeless automata, but still making them look like robots. The sound was fantastic as well (seeing it in a theatre with a subwoofer adds a lot), very creative, and did a good job of telling the story during those long parts without dialogue. When I saw 30 minutes of it a few months ago, the incessant little robot noises got really tiresome by the end, but either the new score helped (I think it's different from what I'd heard) or they took out half of them because it wasn't as bad as I remember. More than anything, though, I really appreciate the work of the designers. Somehow this movie, more than any other, made me realize everything you see is designed. I don't know how they do what they did but they're brilliant. Not just in the shapes and, well, character design, but how things work ... they all work! It was all very well thought-out. My inner OCD technician was most pleased. And it looked cool. I'm not much of one for future techno slick and sleek design, but even so I was impressed. Well done.

A few years ago (I think it was when Moulin Rouge came out) I remember people talking about how some movies missed out on being rewarded for creativity and there should be, in addition to 'Best Original Song' and 'Best Original Score,' a 'Best Use of Existing Music' Oscar. If such a thing had come into existence, I think Wall-E would have it pegged. The score is very good - Thomas Newman was the ideal pick; I can't imagine anyone else - but that Hello, Dolly! music is just perfect. I hazard that it's even more effective in Wall-E than in its original context.

As for it being 'the best Pixar movie ever' and all that other stuff that was said on Ain't-It-Cool, well ... I guess it's a matter of taste. I'm sure Cars was the best Pixar movie ever to someone. As for me, neither robots nor love stories are really my thing, so while I declare it was good I don't know if I'm ready to say it was the best. It's beyond a doubt the most mature. I mean really mature, not sex-and-violence juvenile-adult rated-M-for-'mature.' Refreshing, indeed. I hope it gets rewarded for that.

Also, 'Presto' was GREAT. I don't know what new technique they were experimenting with in that one (aside from possibly the best rigs ever for all I know) but it was ... just ... great.


And, as of Saturday:

Second impressions are ... astonishingly ... exactly the same as the first. With the possible exception of my fridge problem maybe not being such a problem after all (though I maintain that first impressions are important). Various topics have arisen in conversation that have changed some opinions on aspects of the movie but they're all spoilers, more or less, so I don't think I'll bother writing them up. Yup. Not worth clicking that second link, eh?


Before I forget: stay for the credits. The art department really shows off, and even when they step off the stage it's entertaining for a while. If you can keep still for a little longer, there is a very short and wry little ding at the very very end.

So, what did you think? What was your audience like? Having seen it twice with grown-up movie people I have no idea how it's being received at large; even the ones with children have taught them to be respectful and quiet in the theatre.

Comments

[karalora.livejournal.com]

Aha! I was right about Thomas Newman being the score composer! I forgot to look for him during the credits, but I remember thinking, "this music reminds me of Finding Nemo."

I guess I'm just brilliant that way. ;P