Upon looking over my Top Ten this film sticks out. It does not make sense. The rest of my favourite films are dark, occasionally darkly funny, and often rather nihilistic. Pulp Fiction ends in the knowledge that its lead character will die. In The Usual Suspects the villain escapes. Et cetera and so on. Each film ends either tragically or ironically (see Fight Club) but Wall.E is different.
For starters it is a happy film. It is one marketed for children. It is animated. It is genius.
Well actually that is something of a misconception. It is actually very dark. It is not really suitable for children. It reaches for a far more intelligent viewer than a child with a short attention span. It is animated. Wall.E is from its beginning remarkably bleak. We are presented with a world in which no people inhabit it anymore. The only traces that humans ever really existed are in the adverts that still occasionally play throughout the city telling people to buy. The visuals are stunning from the off as the camera smashes through the detritus that orbits the planet before revealing a desert wasteland is all that remains of a once sprawling urban metropolis. The planet is earth. The sepia tones of the animation draining life from every startling image we encounter. It reminds us of a decaying, hollow rock. Yet Wall.E (our hero) brings everything to life. I won't begin to meditate on the silent opening 45 minutes except to say that it is as if Charlie Chaplin had a Macbook when he was on the scene. Just beautiful, universal comedy plays out before us. If you aren't laughing you are not watching Wall.E.
Upon the arrival of EVA the film transforms again from a silent comedy into a love story. This is the first Sci-fi rom-com ever...not only that it is by Pixar. So Wall.E has also created a hybrid genre in the process. The film is just as romantic as it is funny. The early scenes showing us Wall.E trying to explain to EVA what all his treasured possessions are is amazing. It is like two children discovering toys for the first time.
The crowning achievement of the film though is the way the filmmakers have managed to overcome what could have been their biggest folly. In creating the character of Wall.E and refusing to provide the character with any form of expositional dialogue or recognisable facial features the team set themselves the challenge of having to still try and convey emotion without the usual script possibilities. Merely through sound and tiny movements they accomplish this task splendidly. Not only that the emotions they enable Wall.E to convey end up having the audience empathising with the hero also instantly.
The romance as well is shockingly heartwarming. In particular a scene featuring the two robots dancing around a spaceship is pure movie magic. It is such a beautifully done moment that the film itself could be summarised by those two brief minutes of film. The unsung hero of this masterpiece is Thomas Newman, the composer of the film's music. His best known work being on American Beauty and The Shawshank Redemption but his work here is his most unsung. He is one of those incredibly talented people within the industry whose work is second to none but rarely rewarded. Wall.E saw Newman nominated twice for his work on this film, and his contribution to the film may make those utterly spellbinding two minutes nowhere near as impacting as they were. Without Newman this film may lack its heart. It's a good thing then that he is present and correct providing the romance with the perfect level of aural accompaniment.
If Toy Story was that next leap into animation in 1995, then Wall.E is the next one. Not with regards animation itself but instead the content of what animated films had to offer. In a decade in which the two chief global concerns have been terrorism and the environment Wall.E tries to address the environmental issue (Pixar will probably never try to address terrorism and rightfully so) by attacking American consumer culture, portraying the future of humanity to be bed ridden and obese. Unable to do anything for themselves Wall.E slams the heightened trend of the world's demographic and its lifestyle.
It is interesting how following Wall.E Pixar felt comfortable enough to show a woman learning that she could not have children in a real world setting (a fertility clinic) with Wall.E's successor Up.
You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel like you know why you go to the movies. Wall.E is that treat that seems to transcend all ages and make the experience feel universal. To be blunt, it is the best animated film ever. To be even blunter, it is a masterpiece.
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