DVD Review

WALL-E (2008)

Reviewed by Chris Willman | Nov 12, 2008

Chris Willman

Chris Willman is a senior music writer for Entertainment Weekly

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EW's GRADE

Details Release Date: Jun 27, 2008; Rated: G; DVD Release Date: Nov 18, 2008; Genres: Animation, Kids & Family; With: Fred Willard

Among the Stars: WALL-E hitches a ride

If history holds, one of the year's top-reviewed films will stand zero chance of a Best Picture nod. But why should WALL•E be different from any other Pixar masterpiece? Actually, this one stands out even by sky-high studio standards, being your basic child-friendly, consumerism-spoofing, silent-movie-aping sci-fi dystopia. In his commentary on the three-disc edition, director Andrew Stanton recalls realizing that binocular eyes would give his robot ''a Buster Keaton, stone-face, sad-eyes quality.'' Hours of extras explore the quirks of the supporting 'bots. Bonus ''Buy N Large'' ads enrich the satire. Most fascinating are clips from an early draft that Stanton says ''was a little darker,'' when future humans weren't just slightly devolved, but limbless, gelatinous blobs. WALL•E lightened up but remains as profoundly cautionary as putative kid stuff gets. A

Originally posted Nov 12, 2008 Published in issue #1021-1022 Nov 21, 2008 Order article reprints

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