WALL-E
Year: 2008
Rating: G
Length: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours
In the history of Pixar films, I feel the pinnacle of their filmography is none other than WALL-E (2008). By this point, their technical prowess had an impressive track record, and their stories were proven to be quite heartfelt. Still, some of the earlier films have not aged quite as well as this masterpiece. And the ones that come after have been fairly hit-or-miss. The planets aligned to make WALL-E an achievement of storytelling and visual splendor that has stood the test of time.
While Pixar worked around the uncanny valley with the human characters being bloated versions of their former selves, everything else in this movie looks so beautiful and real. Perhaps it’s even the techniques they used where it almost feels like the whole thing is actually shot on camera instead of entirely in a computer that gives it that sense of grounding. Because there’s personality in a little robot that’s rusting on the corners and covered in dirt compared to the clean and sleek iPod-like robot from the sanitary space station merely out to accomplish her mission—both of which come through in this movie’s stunning visuals.
Many will point to the opening sequence of Up (2009) as an example of storytelling without dialogue. I would argue that WALL-E did it better and for a longer section of its runtime. The expressions of these robots and the slight inflections on their singular vocabulary are a more impressive constraint to work around, but Pixar managed to do so in a way that was entirely charming from the get-go. That the movie has something to say about determination, grit, consumerism, apathy, and hope all packaged into something the whole family can enjoy is equally rare.
A visually grounded and deeply thoughtful film for the entire family, I give WALL-E 5.0 stars out of 5.
