Off the Wall-E; Pixar does it again!

We went and saw Wall-E tonight, and I'm gonna take a huge leap here and say it deserves to be a monster hit. It was hilarious, sentimental, incredibly beautiful visually, and wonderfully well written. Pixar is on a real roll, and with pictures like Finding Nemo, Cars, Ratatouille, and the Toy Story franchise, it seems to be unbeatable. Now comes this film, which blows them all away.

It is a fun and fascinating ride, but it also is one of the best cautionary sci-fi tales in a long time. It has already pissed off the wing nut blogosphere, and that makes it all the more wonderful in my estimation. It is a happily subversive tale. Wall-E has both brains and heart, and it really appeals to any age. The theater we were in this afternoon, during a matinee (filled with toddlers, teens, and adults), was utterly quiet for the most part, except for shouts of joy and laughter. For over a half an hour at the beginning there is no dialog, but the story is told with whimsical and detailed visuals that are perfectly suited to its theme. And even the smallest children in the audience were held rapt in this movie's charms.

This is a film which doesn't need my praise to succeed (as if the few folks who read this blog might follow my advice anyway), but I will say: GO SEE IT! It's the only movie I have ever seen that can make a cockroach into a sympathetic character, and where the robots teach the humans what it is like to be . . . well, human!

It is also a film that gives nods to its predecessors such as 2001 and Day the Earth Stood Still. And at its center is the title character, who loves Hello, Dolly! and yearns for companionship. How he finds it and the epic journey he makes to hold onto it is what Wall-E is all about. In the end, it is a story of hope, love, and redemption, and that is a story worth hearing right now.

Yes, I loved it. Check it out, and let me know when the DVD comes out!