Sunday, March 29, 2009

On the plus side, no Steve Guttenberg in the distant future: "WALL-E"

You know ... "Short Circuit?" Really, I can't be the only one who thought of that '80s non-classic when I saw this little robot puttering around.

While I pretty much never get out to see Pixar movies, they're always good for a rental, especially given the Oscar hardware. She Who Glows and I tapped Netflix for "WALL-E" not long ago, and as with other such movies, it was solid -- and not just for an animated pic.

WALL-E is a little clean-up robot going through the motions in the Earth's future, when humans are gone and trash has piled up. One day, a big spaceship drops off a sleek little white robot (EVE), and boy, does WALL-E fall hard. A one-sided courtship ensues, leading our two 'bots away from Earth and to a whole other story about the humans who left, and what their lives -- and those of the robots that serve them -- have become. Can the human race recover? Can Earth be saved? Can WALL-E get in EVE's metallic pants?

Again, you know the Pixar formula. Not only does the movie look amazing -- Animated? Really? -- but there's some poignant social commentary, some of it wry. Um, yeah, there's the green message about where our planet is headed. But there's also the issue of technology, automation and human sloth, which is pretty good.

The human characters are fine, but the robots are the real show. WALL-E and EVE are precious, and the supporting players are funny. I particularly dug the little "foreign contaminant" dude. Oh, and want a laugh? (No, Jeff, never.) Check out the the discussion boards for the "actor" who plays the autopilot. While the "dating Keira Knightly" and "met him last night" threads are good, my favorite might be the "people say I look like him" one. Awesome.

So yeah, nice little story, impressive effects and a gosh-darnit great feeling in the end. Yes, I always get a little choked up during these movies ... "Nemo," "Incredibles," "Ratatouille" and so on. Funny ... I can watch movies with people getting hacked up, crushed and otherwise mutilated beyond recognition and not bat an eye. But put one boxy little robot in danger, and damn, does it get dusty in here.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home