Second Glance: Wall-E

Filed under: , by: Grundy the Man

PriestBeast went over the general synopsis of the film in his earlier post, so I will save my inane banter about the plot. I will just cut into the meaty stuff...

Wall-E has proved that Pixar is truly the master of digital film making. Never before has an animated feature been able to contain so much life, especially from seemingly inanimate objects. The movie hearkens back to the days of silent films with Charlie Chaplin. Hardly a word is spoken for the first half of the film, yet there is an amazing story that draws the in audience as it develops. I found the story progression to be more compelling without the dialog. The silence entices you to watch, noticing the details, in order to fully grasp what is going on.

Delving further into the silent film theme is the relationship between Wall-E and his "pet" cricket. I would go as far as to say that Pixar has never created two characters that have had a tighter bond. Every frame shows a deliberate attention to the development of this friendship. There is a genuinely emotional link expressed through nuanced body language, that can be seen in eyes of both characters. It is a very mature way of telling a story, that very few Hollywood studios would be able to pull of.

Speaking of maturing, Pixar decides to venture away from "summer popcorn flick" territory with the film's underlying themes of commercialism. Fortunately, the filmmakers do not allow the theme to get in the way of telling an interesting and fun story. While not hitting you over the head with the message, they subtly show what could be a very real future for our species.

The idea of having an agenda present is an interesting turn, from a studio that has traditionally made films that were fairly neutered. Hopefully Pixar will continue branch out and mature, maybe even touching on topics that would otherwise be viewed as taboo in animation. Who knows, maybe someday Touchstone will release the first rated "R" Pixar flick? If Wall-E is any indication, it could be sooner than we think!

Below is the theatrical trailer for Wall-E:

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