Speaking from experience, Wall-E, released today in Australia, is a magnificent movie. Possibly the best movie this year. It’s funny, clever, child-savy, astute, insightful, awe-inspiring and just plain appealing. Pixar really can do no wrong.
And I know this because I saw it three weeks ago at a special screening, with Will, and he’s the Pixar expert of the house. First big screen movie for him, and quite a fitting experience.
It’s guaranteed to win the Best Animated Feature Oscar. It’s so good in fact that it lends some credence to the conspiracy theory that the Academy invented the Animated Feature category mainly as a ploy to make sure Pixar didn’t win Best Picture outright…
And if you don’t believe me, read the review by Paul Byrnes at smh.com.au. He’s a hard bastard on most movies and I disagree with him a lot, but on Wall-e, he says:
Wall-E may be one of the cutest movies of the year, but it’s also a profound and moving work of art. If anyone doubted that Pixar is the most creative outfit in modern motion pictures, this movie should convince them. It is a genuine masterpiece, a word I don’t use often.
So… it’s definitely not a movie just for kids, that’s for sure. In fact, I’d like to see it again, with just Sallie and I, so I can take it in in a whole different way. I’m sure it’s a movie for a lot of repeat viewings (which we’ll get as soon as we can get the DVD, naturally).
And Will is already looking forward to “Up”, Pixar’s 2009 feature. As am I…