What the Manolo Is…
Manolo says, it is Tuesday, time to see what the Manolo is…
On the one of the hands, the Manolo must say that he found this new cartoon movie
Wall-E mostly entertaining and largely satsifactory. On the other of the hands, it was not all that.
You may count the Manolo, among those who think the Wall-E movie was beautiful to look at and sweet, not especially moving, and mostly inconsequential.
Indeed, more than anything else the movie made the Manolo desperately want to see Hello Dolly!. (Now there is the movie filled with life and consequence, full of entertainment and meaning.)
Frankly, robot love does nothing for the Manolo, who prefers that his lead characters be mammals, or at the least cute fish or smart bugs. And by the show of hands, who thinks that the sentient beach umbrella is the good idea? And that is the problem for Wall-E, for when the most utilitarian of machines begin to develop too much personality it is time for the rebooting.
For the Manolo, Ratatouille is still the best Pixar movie of all time. Here was the movie that presented complex questions about artistic drive and critical responsibility with seriousness and good humor. Truly the adult movie disguised as the kiddie cartoon.
By comparison, Wall-E lacks depth, and the important questions it raises are eventually pushed to the side by the mechanics of the extended chase sequence. In the end it is fine entertainment for the few hours, but will quickly fade from the memory, leaving behind little of importance.