Monday, June 30, 2008

Wall-E: Preachy, but good

Took the family to see Wall-E Saturday. Overall, it was a very good film. Also, this marks the first time we've taken the youngest to a movie theater. He did very well and was entranced through the entire movie.

I think it speaks volumes that this movie was so good and yet the majority of dialogue in the film is between the robots and almost all they say are their names. In fact the first half-hour or so of the movie is pretty much dialogue free. Yet, the movie is so engaging. There's so much going on that you don't miss dialogue. In fact, not having characters swamp you with plot devices via spoken word is kind of a blessing.

In lieu of dialogue, much emotion is conveyed in the "eyes" of the characters. Very well done on Pixar's part. Once again they have proven that Hollywood isn't out of ideas. Just that most of the imagination has gone to the animation folks.

The only downside of the movie, to me, is that it had a pretty heavy-handed anti-capitalist message. But, with a lack of dialogue through most of the movie, you don't get sick of it. The message it just kind of put out there. It's the place from which the story is presented. What's going on here is the story, and it's good enough to make you forget the background message.

All in all, a solid effort from Pixar.

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