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Review: Wall-E PDF Print E-mail

Wall•E

CMC Rating: 90/100 (Political Activism, Entertainment Value, Animated Robot Violence)

Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Najimy

MPAA Rating: G

Release Date: 06/28/2008

Runtime: 103 minutes

Director: Andrew Stanton

Synopsis:

Academy Award®-winning writer-director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo") and the inventive storytellers and technical geniuses at Pixar Animation Studios ("The Incredibles," "Cars," "Ratatouille") transport moviegoers to a galaxy not so very far away for a new computer-animated cosmic comedy about a determined robot named WALL•E.

After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

CMC Review: By Adam Lasik

I went to see Wall•E with my six-year old daughter. I asked her the next day if she thought it was ok, good, very good, great, or the best movie she's ever seen. She said it was the best she's ever seen, but immediately after the movie her answer was somewhat more subdued - somehwere in the "good" range.. Take from that what you will...

Personally, I thought it was very good. Not great. I did not have butterflies in my stomach, nor did I experience any sort of emotional elation that one sometimes feels when watching a truly great film.

I realize this more or less flies in the face of the Disney/Pixar marketing and media machine, from which both the company and reviewers all across the country have been declaring WALL•E something akin to the Ten Commandments or Citizen Kane. But I do not think it is even the best Pixar film I have seen, much less among the best movies ever made. From an entertainment perspective, it is solid. Its message of friendship and love and attending sacrifice is strong.

In addition to friendship, love, and sacrifice, Wall•E presents strong perspectives on environmentalism and the culture of leisure in the world. In addition, Wall•E offers decidedly politically-driven commentary regarding corporate responsibility and against capitalism in the aforementioned leisure culture.

The movie also includes several scenes of animated violence, which appear to be "acceptable" to the film's producers because it mostly involves robots resorting to violence against one another. It is not excessive, but there is enough of it to take notice.

With respect to the animation, it truly is stunning. Pixar continues to improve on their already fantastic abilities and technology, and the story successfully achieves a willing suspension of disbelief that is so important, and often difficult to accomplish in an animated film. On the technical side, Wall•E is, indeed, great.

The political overtones detract from the overall entertainment value, and for the purposes of this CMC reviewer, result in a lower grade according to the CMC standards.

Overall CMC Rating: 90/100

  • Entertainment Value: 21/25
  • Violence: 12/15
  • Language: 20/20
  • Sexual Content: 20/20
  • Drugs and Alcohol: 10/10
  • Worldview/Message: 7/10
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