I saw the new Pixar film WALL•E on Saturday, and it is still floating around in my head in a really good way. There is something truly special about this film, and I could go on and on about many aspects of it, from the technical and the setting to how well the characters and their relationships work and the remarkable ways they and the story are communicated (in all senses of the word). But since the film is so new, I don’t want to get too much into that stuff until people have had ample chance to see it. However, if you are interested in an opinion review, I suggest starting with this short discussion of the film on the podcast Filmspotting. I listened to it yesterday, and, amazingly, the Filmspotting guys almost perfectly summed up a lot of what I felt about the film, from what makes it great all the way to what are perhaps its very few and minor weaknesses and how even those weaknesses help illustrate how strong the premise and setup of the film is overall.

With all that said, though, I have to just write a couple things about the character, WALL•E, himself, who has to be one of the must lovable characters in the history of film. If an essential criterion for a great film is how much it hits the core of your being by making you care about the main character(s), then WALL•E is, without a doubt, one of the greatest films I have seen in a very long time. I might even go so far to say it is as good, or maybe even better than E.T. in that regard (that is a BIG first impression maybe though).

But WALL•E certainly begins with just as much charm and brilliance as the hilarious E.T. at home alone, downing beers scene had, or, for that matter, the unforgettable and endearing introduction to Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back as well. And the film only had to run for maybe 15 or 20 minutes, at the most, before I was fully and deeply invested in little WALL•E the robot and his story. It might not even be possible to express exactly how this happens or what exactly the experience feels like, but, to put it simply, I believed in and loved this little guy as much as it is possible to when watching an animated story (if not any kind) on screen. I profoundly connected with his every emotion though there was a surprisingly little amount of words spoken. And that is something very primal and real that I am sure will stick with me for a very long time. To achieve this so incredibly well, particularly in the brilliant way they did with this film, confirms in my mind that these filmmakers have a remarkable gift that puts them right up there with the very best of their predecessors and far ahead of most of their contemporaries.

Of course, since I’ve already so boldly put WALL•E right beside some of the greatest icons of my generation, I have to consider the possibility that WALL•E (both the character and the film) owes at least some part of its greatness to its influential and landmark sci-fi predecessors, whose inspirational presence is felt in various ways all throughout the film (and even authoritatively evident in the case that the one and only Ben Burtt created the “voice” of WALL•E, just as he so wonderfully did for R2-D2 so many years ago). And while I think WALL•E the robot is a significant new creation all on his own, he does seem, in many ways, to embody something that feels a bit like the natural end result of mixing together all the most endearing parts of such monumental forebears as, E.T., Johnny 5, and, of course, R2-D2.

All that to say, I obviously really enjoyed the movie. I know many people who are likely to come out of movies disappointed, because they go in with too high of expectations, so I hope I haven’t upped anyone’s expectations to such a dangerous level with my unabashed praise. I’d say if you just go into the movie, like I did, with no other expectation but to enjoy watching an incredibly cute, Short Circuit reminiscent robot in a Pixar film with an intriguing premise that is fully new ground for their brand of animation (if not most animation), I guarantee you will not leave disappointed and might just come away as highly impressed as I was.