Movie Review: Wall-E

Wall-E (2008) 

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Written by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon

Starring Zooey Deschanel, Ben Burtt, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Sigourney Weaver

Release Date June 27th, 2008

Published June 26th, 2008

Pixar has long been at the cutting edge of computer animation. The key to keeping that edge has as much to do with the latest in technology as with maintaining strong relationships with the most creative minds in the animation biz. People like Finding Nemo creator Andrew Stanton. It was Stanton who dedicated years to the story of a father and son fish who got seperated and had to find each other.

And it is Stanton who returned to work as soon as he wrapped Finding Nemo, on the story of a lonely robot who falls in love. The result of another 5 years of hard work is Wall-E the latest masterpiece from the company that has revolutionized the way we view animation.

It is the year 2700 and humans are long gone from earth. No they weren't wiped out by a nuke or anything post-apocalyptic like. Rather, humanity abandoned it's garbage overflowing planet in favor of a giant, corporate owned space ship while they wait for earth to be cleaned up. The clean up of the planet was left to robots called Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class or WALL-E units.

Several hundred years after the first WALL-E units were put to work only one remains. WALL-E has, in his years alone, evolved. He has a personality. His childlike curiosity leads him to collect items of the garbage he busily compacts into cubes for stacking, and keep them in his little home that he has built for himself. 

WALL-E even has a friend, a cockroach who follows him everywhere. WALL-E's tranquility is upended one day by the arrival of a spaceship and a beautiful modern robot that we soon learn is called EVE. It is is Eve's job to search earth for plant life and report back to the spaceship. If she finds something alive, humans may be able to return to earth.

For WALL-E seeing Eve inspires love at first sight and eventually he wins her over. When Eve is called back to the spaceship WALL-E tags along and a whole new adventure begins.

The script for WALL-E has a number of wonderful twists and turns and a central romance between WALL-E and Eve that is more touching than 99% of the romantic comedies we've been subjected to over the past decade. Writer-director Andrew Stanton's wondrous sense of detail applies not merely to the cutting edge animation but also to the characters who are rich, elegant studies of romantic and even science fiction heroes.

The key to WALL-E is it's abundance of heart. If you can watch WALL-E and not be moved by this sweet, sensitive, smart story then you need to see a shrink. This is some of the finest character work we have seen in any movie in years. WALL-E, Eve and the humans aboard the forever orbiting spaceship, especially the captain wonderfully voiced by comic Jeff Garlin, have these rich inner lives that are delicately revealed in smart, sensible doses.

On top of the terrific characters and the romance is a smart sci fi story that goes as far as to adhere to Asimov's 3 rules for robot behavior. The three rules, do no harm, obey commands and protect itself, are played out in important and exciting fashion. I cannot stress enough the extraordinary attention to detail in this script that combines terrific sci fi, a little mystery, a great romance and even a big dance number..

WALL-E truly has it all.

Pixar has done it again. I love, love, love, love this movie. Andrew Stanton, Brad Bird and John Lasseter working under the Pixar banner have delivered the most consistent quality product of any studio in the business. Even as that business tries to limit them by labeling animation a kids genre, these brilliant artists have done more to advance the artform of feature length film than any group of directors you can name.

When Oscar comes around next year it will be a herculean effort for the academy to limit WALL-E to the mere animation Oscar category. WALL-E is a serious, undeniable candidate for the big prize and don't be surprised when it becomes the first Pixar film to break the ranks of live action domination of Best Picture.

WALL-E is just that good. 

Movie Review: Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc. (2001

Directed by Pete Docter

Written by Andrew Stanton, Daniel Gerson

Starring John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn 

Release Date November 2nd, 2001 

Published November 2nd, 2001 

What is the future of the animated film?

Many thought we would find out in Final Fantasy, but if beautiful computer graphics over the top of lame spiritual platitude and sci-fi conventions as old as time then animation is in trouble. My hope is the future of animation lies with the brilliant artists at Pixar who with Toy Story and Toy Story 2 and their latest Monsters Inc. are revolutionizing animation the way Disney did with Snow White. 

Monsters Inc. is the story of Sully and Mike a pair of workaday monsters whose job it is to scare children into screaming and thus providing electricity to the city of Monstropolis. Mike and Sully are voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman who are so brilliantly matched you would never guessed they have never worked together before. Steve Buscemi provides the voice of Randall the chameleon-like bad guy and Oscar winner James Coburn is there multi-legged boss. All the voicework is flawless with each actor finding exactly the right pitch for there character.

Monsters Inc. is hampered a little by a tendency toward sickening sweetness but the story is so wonderful that the sugar-shock is worth it. 

If you didn't like Toy Story 1 and 2 you don't have a soul, the same could be said if you didn't like Monsters Inc. Forget about that whole animation is for kids stigma and go see this movie and be a kid again. Monsters Inc. is one of the best movies of the year.

Movie Review: Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4 (2019) 

Directed by Josh Cooley 

Written by Andrew Stanton, Stephany Folsom 

Starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Christina Hendricks, Jordan Peele, Keegan Michael Key, Keanu Reeves, Tony Hale 

Release Date June 21st, 2019

Published June 20th, 2019

I keep imagining that at some point the team at Pixar is going to slow down, that the quality will begin to slip and that the high standard they’ve held for more than 25 years has to decline at some point. And yet, quite wonderfully, they never fail. Pixar’s unfailing quality is an even greater testament to the company’s standard of excellence. For the fourth time, Pixar has made a Toy Story movie that manages to transcend expectations.

Sequels are never expected to improve upon the original. In general, Hollywood sequels are more often than not mercenary efforts intended solely to grab cash while taking advantage of the public appetite for something comfortingly familiar. The folks at Pixar however, are not ones to compromise on quality. Sure, few things are as comfortable and familiar as the chemistry between Woody and Buzz, but Pixar is not a company to rely only on that.

Toy Story 4 is as brilliant, emotionally complex and funny as any of the other Toy Story films. And to add to the degree of difficulty, the film is directed by a debuting director, Josh Cooley. Taking over for John Lasseter, who founded the franchise and carried it to a wonderful sequel and Lee Unkrich who pushed the concept of Toy Story to a place of remarkable poignance and humor in Toy Story 3, Cooley had a nearly impossible task in front of him. That Toy Story 4 equals the standard of the first three films is utterly remarkable.

Toy Story 4 picks up the story of our toy heroes, led by Woody (Tom Hanks) as they live life as Bonnie’s toys. Lately, Woody has fallen out of favor, often being left in the closet while the rest of the toys go to play. This however, has not dampened Woody’s dedication to Bonnie and when she is leaving for her first day of Kindergarten, Woody covertly tags along in her book bag. Woody then secretly helps Bonnie through her first day by getting her the art supplies she needs to create a new friend.

When Bonnie returns home from school, she returns with not just Woody in tow. Woody introduces the rest of the toys to Forky (Tony Hale), Bonnie’s new favorite. Bonnie made Forky out of a spork, some sticks, glue and a pipe cleaner. Forky’s existence is a crisis, not for any of the toys, but for Forky himself. Forky does not see himself as a toy but as a disposable, trash item and he seeks to fulfill his trash destiny.

Woody takes it upon himself to keep Forky with Bonnie at all cost. When Bonnie’s family decides to take a road trip, Forky makes a break for it by jumping from the moving RV in the middle of the night. Being the dedicated toy hero that he is, Woody jumps after him and the main plot of Toy Story 4 kicks in. Woody must convince Forky to accept life as a toy and make it back to the RV before it leaves the following morning from a nearby RV park.

Before Woody and Forky return, Woody gets distracted by something in an antique shop. It appears to be the lamp of Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Woody’s long ago friend from his days as Andy’s favorite toy. Bo Peep was given away years earlier and was thought lost forever. Woody decides to see if she is in the antique shop but before he can find her, Woody and Forky are waylaid by the latest brilliant villain of the Toy Story universe, Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks), a talking baby doll with a broken voice box.

Gabby Gabby and her dummy minions see that Woody has a voice box and they are eager to get it from him. Gabby takes Forky hostage when Woody escapes and it will be up to Woody to try and rescue his new friend while his old friends try to keep Bonnie’s family from leaving without Woody. You were probably wondering what role our old friends were playing, specifically Buzz (Tim Allen), Jesse (Joan Cusack), Slinky Dog (Blake Clark) and Ham (John Ratzenberger). They’re all back but they are mostly sidelined, used sparingly in the Bonnie’s family subplot.

Buzz does get his own story as he goes looking for Woody and explores his inner voice, which he mistakes for the literal voice that comes out when he presses the buttons on his chest. The cluelessness here feels a little off brand for Buzz who has grown in the previous three movies but Allen’s voice work sells it with wit and energy. Allen’s comfort level with the character and this universe could likely make any character trait work for Buzz Lightyear, short of becoming a serial killer.

The new cast members of Toy Story 4 are a rich group of comic possibilities. Christina Hendricks brings nuance and likability to Gabby Gabby who is not the straight ahead villain you expect. Gabby Gabby has the poignance of Ned Beatty’s Toy Story 3 teddy bear but not his tragedy. Gabby Gabby’s story has an unexpected outcome that I won’t spoil here other than saying it is quite satisfying.

In the smaller supporting roles, Keegan Michael Key, Jordan Peele and MVP of 2019, Keanu Reeves, each bring big laughs to Toy Story 4. These characters are a smart innovation for the franchise. While Woody is carrying a rather dramatic story, Key and Peele’s Ducky and Bunny and Keanu’s Duke Caboom, are purely comic inventions. I really loved the running bit that Key and Peele get that I won’t spoil here, it’s silly but it works.

Toy Story 4 is a really great movie. It’s not only because we already love these characters, it’s because the creative team at Pixar cares so deeply about giving these movies a reason to continue. Here, the story is about the growth of Woody. Tom Hanks’ voice has aged perfectly into where Woody is as a character. He’s a little hoarse, he’s a little tired but he’s still eager to please and brimming with dedication, empathy and care.

The relationship between Woody and Annie Potts’ Bo Peep is a wonderful story, truly the heart of the movie. The Woody and Bo Peep story would be enough on its own to make Toy Story 4 transcendent but Pixar is, as always, an embarrassment of riches when it comes to storytelling and Toy Story and because of that, there are numerous things to enjoy about Toy Story 4, perhaps the single most durable and enjoyable movie franchise of all time.