WALL-E

2008

8/10

DIRECTOR: Andrew Stanton

This is a film of two halves, and both are good, but the first is great. The film’s style expertly harks back to the glory days of silent cinema, with where comic timing and expression ruled the Nickelodeons.

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The first half consists of very little dialogue and some of the most expressionist animation I’ve seen in a long while, reminiscent of Looney Tunes in their 40’s heyday. But when they end up in space, the people turn up and the dialogue begins to intrude upon the so far, well crafted canvas.

This is certainly one of Pixar’s greats, not as good as “Up” or “Toy Story” in my opinion, but one of the very best, in the same vein of taking something which seems dated, such as like here, the silent era, and era of comedy which few children will have been exposed to, and presenting it in a palatable way for them, and indeed, us all.

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Overall, I would highly recommend this, if only for the first hour, but I feel that it falls foul of its own plot in the second half,  and by that I mean that the beginning is so well put together that narrative details seem to clutter the beautiful simplicity of this robot love story.