Z/Web

This is an over-the-top action movie that is a lot of fun if you don’t take it too seriously. The special stunt effects are just as often funny as they are cool and are the main reason to see the film. The story’s too far-fetched and mysterious to be much more than a frame for the spectacular action. The premise is that 1,000 years ago textile merchants put together a secret society of assassins (why is not explained) who still exist today. These assassins have almost supernatural power (like the ability to shoot a bullet in a curve or slow down reality so they can do impossible stunts). The main character’s a nobody working in a dead-end office job who suddenly gets recruited into this society and is told his father was an assassin who was just killed by one of their own rogue members and it’s time he be trained to use his hidden gifts. The training is absurdly difficult (like knife fighting with real cuts) but the boy is motivated because he wants to go after the rogue assassin who killed his father. Of course nothing is quite like it seems, but there are so many holes and questions in the plot that the whole thing is a bit silly, but if you’re in the right mindset, the thing’s so much fun you don’t mind. Just go with the flow and ignore the stupidity and you’ll have a good time.

Pixar does it again! Another terrific film. This one is very different from previous outings: it’s more similar to some of their dialogless shorts as there isn’t much dialog. That means the story must be told via visuals and subtle character expressions. That’s even more challenging when the characters are various kinds of robots, but the team at Pixar have done a great job conveying subtle emotions. The story is occasionally slow, but when it’s going, it’s going great, with tons of fascinating background visuals and gags that will mean you can watch this over and over again and see things you missed each time. There are hilariously quick bits like a shot robotic “mice” that look like Apple Macintosh computer mice, or the Macintosh start-up sound that plays when Wall-E reboots. The story is simple and elegant. After the earth is overrun with trash, the humans all leave to tour the universe on a luxury cruiseliner while robots clean up the earth, but 700 years later, the earth is still a mess and only one lonely “Wall-E” model robot is left, still compacting garage. When robot probe “Eve” shows up Wall-E ends up traveling back with her to the cruiseliner where he saves the humans and becomes a hero. The interaction between the robots is extremely well done: each have their own personality and yet there is minimal dialog (Wall-E can’t even speak). Great for both adults and kids. Highly recommended.