Movie Review: WALL*E

The folks at Pixar have done it again. WALL*E is a work of art, both technically and as a story.

But first, the short!

Like the short in Ratatouille, this short has no dialogue. It does, however, involve a rabbit, a carrot, a magician, and two magic hats. The rabbit is a cute, white bunny who is definitely not shy or retiring. He knows what he wants and he's going to get it.

The magician, on the other hand, has an act to perform.

Whomever wrote this short was definitely a Warner Brothers fan. There's more than a little Bugs Bunny here! In fact, at one point the orchestra breaks into a song I know was used in a Bugs and Elmer episode.

I like Pixar's tradition of opening the movie with a short (shades of my childhood when every Disney film was a double feature-plus-short) and I hope they consider releasing the shorts on a DVD at some point.

Okay, on to the main feature.

Much has been written about the storyline of WALL*E in other reviews. And strong stories are a Pixar trademark. So I'm going to spend a little more time on the ambiance of the movie.

It opens with a song from Hello, Dolly! Cornelius is telling Barnaby there's a whole world out there beyond Yonkers and breaks into the song, Put on Your Sunday Clothes. That song and one other, Dancing, serve as touchpoints, appearing at significant moments in the film.

With eyes shaped like binoculars and a body that's basically a metal box, WALL*E is no mere machine. Although his job is to compact trash into blocks and then stack it into tall, imposing structures, he also collects odd objects: a garbage can lid, rubber duckies, a Rubik's cube. And he has a pet. ten minutes in (or less), I forgot I was watching an animated feature. WALL*E is a character, with personality and feelings.

The humans don't appear until more than halfway through the film, and--with one interesting exception--they definitely look animated. But it looks like a deliberate choice and isn't jarring. (John Ratzenberger keeps up his string of voicing characters, by the way.)

The other major character is another robot: EVE. For much of the movie, she's an egg, but as the action unfolds, she develops a full-fledged persona.

There are a lot of references to pop culture as well: the Blue Danube Waltz plays at an appropriate time and there is a steward robot named "Gofer." I probably missed as much as I caught--which means we're going to have to buy the DVD and watch it again. :)

Hubs and I saw this at a Sunday afternoon matinee and there were plenty of kids in the audience. However, during the climax, the theater was dead quiet. Not easy to do, but Pixar did it, just like the best Disney movies do. The technical quality of the film is amazing, combining some "live action" with animation seamlessly. It all fit. The character voices didn't overwhelm the animated characters (a pet peeve of mine with Dreamworks animations), but complemented them.

Yes, there is a social message. But I thought the message didn't overwhelm the story and the ending was hopeful and uplifting.

For the ending credits, Pixar used several different styles of art, from cave dwellings to Egyptian hieroglyphics to Impressionism to Van Gogh--kind of a mini art history. I wouldn't have caught it unless the woman behind me mentioned it to her son. I thought it was rather clever.

On the March Hare scale: 5 out of 5 Golden Tickets

crossposted at The Mad Tea Party

"The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" Movie Review

“The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” Film Review
“Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie”, the best selling DVD of all time, which sold 50 million copies, is admittedly a tough act to follow, but “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” valiantly takes up the challenge. Not that its heroes look promising at first. Elliott known to Veggie Tales fans as Larry Boy, Sedgewick, who is Mr Lunt, and George, better known as Pa grape, are ‘cabin boys’ or waiters, in the “Pieces of Ate Dinner Theatre”. Their audition for the starring roles in the theatre’s pirate show ends in disaster. and they lose their jobs. While they are slumped in a pile of misery outside the theatre door, contemplating their bleak future, out of the blue, or rather out of the back of a garbage truck, adventure beckons. Elliot takes a chance, pushing the button on the mysterious, blinking gold ball, and catapults the three would-be pirates into a dingy somewhere in the ocean. The three are magically transported into the middle of a real pirate adventure.
Will they accept the challenge to save the princess’ brother from the fearsome pirate, Robert the Terrible, who has kidnapped him to wrest the crown from the King’s hands? The princess demands an answer. “But we’re just cabin boys” the three pirates whine. Her father, the King, who sent them the golden ball, which she calls the Helpseeker, was mistaken. Each of them suffers from particular limitation, Elliot has his ‘fears’, Sedgewick his laziness, and cheese-curl addiction, and George his wish for his kids to look up to him. No hero material here, just three losers who want to go home. Are they capable of rising to the challenge of the King’s expectations?

Screenwriter Phil Vischer has taken the Veggie Tales away from a Scripture-based story, yet there is still a solid character lesson for children in this frothy pirate flick. Director Mike Nawrocki describes the theme, ‘God calls us into adventure, and equips us to fulfill that call”. This wasn’t immediately apparent, either to me or my 10 year old daughter who missed the wisecracks of “Jonah. The middle of the film seemed a bit lost at sea, predictable and slow moving, until the King makes his appearance, and gives it a sense of direction. He praises the pirates, and tells them, “The hero isn’t the strongest, or fastest, smartest, with the best looks. A hero is one who, no matter how hard, does what he knows is right.“ He reminds them of the signs and help he sent them along the way, saying, “my help is always there”. The King is a God figure, who has brought out the bravery in Elliot the fearful, the ambition in Sedgewick the slothful, who nearly took the option of deserting the adventure for his easy chair, and inspired George, who proved he truly was the leader he always wanted to be for his kids. When the three are propelled back into their world, they have discovered their own greatness, thanks to the King’s confidence in them.
Although I prefer the Biblical storyline and well-crafted characters of “Jonah”, “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” stands out as much for what it doesn’t have as for what it does. A family film with precious few potty jokes (a mention of a character’s wetting himself), and absolutely no off-color anatomical references, alternate lifestyles, or crude language. There is none of the cynicism or nature worship which pervade children’s entertainment lately, so “Pirates” is, in those respects, clean, inspiring family entertainment, which will delight your children, even as you are missing the sing along tunes of Jonah. Mild violence includes a kidnapping, attacking cheese curls, some fighting and blowing things up. This film will entertain the kids with no objections from Mom. You might even discuss what constitutes a true hero on the way home.

Stardust, the Movie: An Adult Fairy Tale

There are some fantasy adventure films, based on literary classics like Lord of the Rings that keep you on the edge of your seat and challenge your imagination, while there are others that are unbelievably boring and put you to sleep. Stardust falls into neither of these categories, but falls somewhere in the middle. It is an adventurous film that holds your interest and attention, but doesn’t quite live up to your expectations. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining and enjoyable diversion.

Stardust is a whimsical fantasy based on the popular novel by Neil Gaiman. The fairy tale begins with Ian McKellen (Lord of the Rings) telling the story of a young man who has a yen to leave his hometown, the sleepy English village of Wall, and cross the forbidden cobblestone wall to enter into the strange, mystical land of Stormhold. Successfully distracting the gate guard, the young man enters into this forbidden world, where he becomes intimately involved with a desirable young woman, who claims to be a captive princess. Nine months later, he receives a basket containing the fruit of their union – his newborn son.

Fast forward eighteen years, and we see a naive and awkward peasant teenage boy, Tristan (Charlie Cox), who is unsuccessfully attempting to win the affections of a self-centered beautiful maiden (Sienna Miller). When Tristan finally manages to get her alone, together they see a falling star, which he promises to retrieve for her, to win her love. Like his father before him, Trystan also crosses the forbidden wall to collect his meteorite. Once there, he discovers that his fallen star is actually a celestial beauty in human form named Yvaine (Claire Danes.)

There are others who are after the beautiful Yvaine as well, including the King's (Peter O'Toole) scheming sons for whom only her secret powers can secure the throne, and an ugly old witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who seeks to steal Yvane’s eternal youth and beauty for herself and sister witches, so it is up to Tristan to protect her.

In the course of their adventures in the mystical world, the couple encounters Captain Shakespeare (Robert DeNiro), a pirate who commands a flying ship, and assists them in their escape. While he pretends to be tough, putting on a gruff exterior, the Captain actually has a gentler, softer side. However, the director goes overboard on this, when in one scene, we are shown Captain Shakespeare frolicking about his cabin in women’s clothing. Of course, this is done for laughs, but I found this scene distasteful, offensive, and unnecessary. In fact, I found this pirate ship escapade to be a distraction that doesn’t seem to fit in well with the rest of the film.

The two leading actors, Claire Danes and Charlie Cox, their innocence and their romance are what made this film work for me. Charlie Cox did an excellent job portraying Tristan, the naïve, awkward, and lovesick peasant boy who grows into a confident young man, who learns how to love and what it is all about. As Yvaine, Claire Danes assists her leading man with this transformation as she herself effectively portrays a spirited and cranky star who learns to share her radiant inner light with him. Both follow their heart’s desires and go where the journey of life takes them, which lifts them to beautiful new heights. This is a film worth seeing, although it falls short of what it could have been.

Stardust is an adult fairy tale which I do not recommend for children or for young teens. In addition to the cross-dressing scene, it contains violence, a flamboyant homosexual in one scene, a child conceived out of wedlock, sexual innuendos, and implied sexual relationships between unmarried people. It is rated PG-13 for violence and risqué humor.