Two vastly different characters in two vastly different worlds. Heck, their ratings are even polar opposities (the G-rated pixar affair and the hardest pushed PG13 movie maybe ever).
Both films antagonists share typical sinister agendas to thwart their opposition, but in incredibly different paths.
So what is the point?
In the 3 weeks the Dark Knight has been released, every single possible angle and topic has been discussed, argued and debated by now. Nearly everyone has seen the film, its breaking records like we've never seen the likes of in quite some time, everyone has said why Heath Ledger's Joker is held as one of the all time great performances. What else can be said of this tiring topic?
And what on earth could the likes of a movie like WallE have on this far darker, deeper, more mature-adult film?
Well I'll get to my thesis, if you will. The Dark Knight is undoubtedly a classic in film, period. Classics these days are hard to come by, especially in the post-modern era of filmmaking were in where CGI and HD cameras can make even the most boring effect seem state-of-the-art. Were in a time where flash and style outweigh dull and normalcy in films. Lighting isn't used the way it used to be, just to use an example. Why use light when you have computer effects to dim and highten the mood for you at anytime necessary? So to find a classic in this day and age, isn't necessarily impossible, but just not as plentiful. What has happened this summer probably won't be appreciated until much further down the road. Two films, two very different themes, might just be held at the highest peak of their respective genres when it's all said and done. And they were both released just a couple weeks apart this summer season.
The Dark Knight had some of the greatest hype of any movie has had, with some unfortunate help due to the death of Heath Ledger (needless to say). Despite that, the movie stands alone and deservingly belongs in discussion with some of the greatest crime-dramas of our time. It feels absolutely nothing like what previous quote/unquote "superhero" movies tell us to feel like. It's a crime-drama with a man in a black suit popping up periodically as the story's hero. But even something as silly-sounding as that statement doesn't take anything away from director Christopher Nolan's masterpiece. He brings a complete sense of realism to the world of Batman that neither Tim Burton nor the terrible Joel Schuemaker did in the previous series of Batman films. You feel as if Gotham City is a real city that you and I could drive through like any other metropolis city. There's nothing cartoony or animated about the Dark Knight. Even if the title wasn't an acronym for Batman, it would be the perfect title regardless.Outside of the hype preceeding Titanic and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I can't recollect many films having a great amount of hype that incredibly surpassed that hype. And not everybody enjoyed either of those films, I'm just speaking on popular opinion due to how well both those films turned out at the box office as well at the Oscars (both won Best Picture, the 3rd Rings movie). The Dark Knight belongs right there, it's a film that as soon as you leave you immediately have the drive to want to see it again. There is not many 160 minute movies that will make an audience crave to see it over again in the theaters, but the Dark Knight manages precisely that. The movie leaves you with a sense of seeing something that was special and breathtaking. A moving experience we as audiences don't get blessed with much anymore. A defining performance by one of it's actors (here the late Heath Ledger). An ensombled cast that has no weak link. A chilling score that does the overall mood of the film justice, not over the top loud nor quiet, it almost goes unnoticed throughout the film. And a director with a vision of how exactly to make a superhero movie feel human, which is what we all want to feel at the end of the day, that we can feel like a superhero when we walk out of the movie theater.
I won't go into particular scenes that I thoroughly enjoyed or the overall story of the film, to negate any readers that may not have seen the movie as of yet (however few of you are left). But the point I'm making on the Dark Knight, before moving onto WallE is it's an undeniable classic. An epic, if you will. A film probably even more appreciated, however hard that is to believe in the current condition of the movie's success, in the process of time.
WaaaaaaaaaLLeeeeeeeee!This movie I can literally talk about forever. I may be alone in my group of high-testosterone friends that could never praise such a quote/unquote "kids flick." But people would be selling this movie way too short by throwing it off as another computer-animated kids flick. WallE's THE best computer-animated film to date and neither of the others come close (not Toy Story, nor Shrek). The only animated movie that may top this is still my personal favorite The Lion King, but there are a few other Disney classics that may be in there as well. Like the Dark Knight, the process of time and repeat viewings will do this movie more justice.
Walle may have a simple premise, but it's the emotion and heart behind it that totally left me with chills and smiles. If you find it hard to let your emotions go and feel like a kid again, you take yourself way too seriously (why so serious?!?, no pun intended). The opening 30 minutes or so of the movie barely carries any form of dialouge outside of a few robotic gizmo noises and crashes. That, in itself, was a risky and bold move on the part of Pixar and Disney. However, Pixar's resume is a perfect 100% on hits and when it comes to Disney, more often than not, it's a safe bet. Walle incompases so much heart and inspiration that most films of its kind don't usually reach with its audience. The film is geared to younger audiences, sure, however it also has the central human emotion that every age in this world can open to, that emotion is "the want to love." Even as a kid, or as an old retired elder, everyone knows the feeling of wanting to be loved. Walle hits that central emotion that literally we all carry genetically. Even the coldest or cruelest people in the world, deep down, never want to be alone. It's like that feeling you get when you walk down the street, and you see a happy couple holding hands smiling while gazing into each others eyes. You don't have to hear a thing, it's a sight that every human emotion knows exactly what that look entails. Love. Surprising enough, a movie as small and simple like WallE was able to accomplish all that (and even more).
That "even more" is when the movie shifts gears from the 2nd half on, where WallE is sent to where the humans left earth for (and where the bulk of the film's dialogue lies). It is here where the film jumps from typical Pixar wonderful kid-joy-flick to full-blown classic-status. Most films that begin and start strong lose its steam and power by trying too hard to be "different" in its 2nd and 3rd acts. WallE took its current theme of love and heart and went deeper with its underlining, more adult-oriented theme that was there throughout the film. And it is in that theme, which most adults will catch and younger kids will miss, where Walle separates itself from other strictly "kids flicks." Not to get too deep into the 2nd half of WallE, but basically if you saw the trailers you get the picture that the world we live in was not properly taken care of by humans. We unquestionably live in a world where, at least in America, we're all about doing less work to get more work done. In other words, lazier and lazier. And in this lazy world we are becoming, film's like Walle, however far fetched it undoubtedly is, doesn't seem so hard to imagine.
In the end, what I wanted to accomplish in this entry wasn't just a minor review of two summer movies that are easily a level above everything else released this year. I wanted to show the appreciation as a movie buff how lucky we are to be in a summer where not just one but TWO undeniable classics are in our midsts, as we speak, in the theater. One is getting an overkill of praise and recognition (and deservingly so), and the other is getting its share, but its all "popcorn flicks" to most audiences. In time, I feel these two movies will be standouts in their genres. At the very least, right up at the top with other classics of its kind. The Dark Knight is right there with the likes of Heat and The Departed, while Walle is on the cusps of great Disney classics like Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Fantasia. Two undeniable classics, that hit two very different nerves in our body.
In a trying time in a trying world, what better escape than two films that combined hit just about every emotional nerve in the human body.
