I hadn't paid any attention to the Wall-E advertising blitz as I don't have any children and I don't normally watch animated features at the theater (in fact I can't remember the last time I did.
) I only remember seeing a cardboard cutout of Wall-E at a theater a few months ago and thinking "wow, he looks just like the robot from Short Circuit.
" Short Circuit was one of my favorite films as a kid and I thought they were just going to be rehashing that old story.
I thought "just Hollywood rehashing another old idea, ho hum.
" So needless to say I didn't have any plans on seeing the movie, all of that changed when I started hearing what other people were saying about it.
It was getting glowing reviews from a lot of people whose opinion I trust.
I then decided to go to Rotten Tomatoes to check out what the critics were saying.
I have never read such positive reviews for a movie before.
I decided that I had to see this for myself.
So I went to a theater in New York City to see Wall-E yesterday.
The theater was packed which I wasn't too surprised by.
What I was surprised by was that the audience was about 95% adult and I am not exaggerating when I say that.
In fact I only saw 4 children in the entire theater.
I figured they must have read the same reviews I did and wanted to check out for themselves.
I do not want to give away a lot of plot or talk a lot about specific things that happen in the movie as I think it's best experienced how I experienced it, not really knowing much about it except that a lot of people are really enjoying it.
Is it a rehash of Short Circuit? No.
Not even close.
It has nothing to do with that movie except that the lead character robot has a similar look.
It actually has a lot more in common with 2001: A Space Oddyssy.
Yes, you read that correctly.
In fact the movie is quite clearly inspired by 2001.
And I do mean "inspired," it's not a "rip-off" in anyway.
This is not your average cartoon movie.
It is something special.
I believe it's the type of movie that people will remember many years from now.
It's truly incredible how it can manage to entertain people from ages 5 to age 100.
And yes, this is a G-rated movie.
There are no lame attempts at "adult" humor.
This film is not adult in that way, it's adult in a much deeper way.
I actually think the movie is something of a spiritual film.
It's a movie that makes you feel wonder about the world.
While it's a warning of sorts, I feel that it's actually an awakening.
It's not too late.
You can begin now.
It's a wonderful thing that a movie this intelligent and with this much integrity is being made in 2008.
It's a wonderful thing that children of today have a masterpiece to call their own.
And that's what Wall-E is, it's a true masterpiece.
I believe it deserves to be considered for the Oscar for best picture.
And no I don't mean best animated movie, I mean best picture overall.
It's definitely the best new movie I've seen this year.
Needless to say: Thumbs Up.