Pixar Movies
Jun. 21st, 2010 01:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amulyBecause I am a film nut/elitist asshole, I feel the need to rate Pixar movies just for the hell of it/in honor of Toy Story 3 being totally not shit (hey, it's the third in a series, I had my doubts).
Feel free to disagree with me in the comments, and just know that if I start an argument, it's not personal, just healthy debate :P
God Tier:
Wall-E:
This movie was absolutely amazing, for many, many reasons.
1.] It was a silent film - and it was captivating.
There is no dialogue - none - in the film for the first 23 minutes of the movie (same timestamp as 2001's first dialogue - coincidence?). And even then, the first dialogue aside from "Wall-E" and "Ev-ah" doesn't even come into play until about 40 minutes into the movie. And yet, I dare you to put on this movie as "background noise". Because I've tried. I've been working on a project or fic or something, put the movie on because I'm sick of my Gaga + Bowie playlist and want something else. Then I end up getting no work done, because I just end up staring at this movie for it's full 98 minute run time. And every second of it is spectacular.
Moreover, this is a kid's film. A kid's film in 2008. This is a film made for kids who never didn't have cell phones and computers (spoiled little brats). This kids were born after the invention and wide dissemination of the mp3 player. As wired as I am, Miss Can't-go-two-days-without-internet-before-trying-to-murder-entire-family, these kids are approaching the singularity.
And yet. Plop them in front of this silent film...and they are hooked. They are focused. They will not leave, because this movie does more than words or dialogue ever will. And it is done brilliantly.
2.] It made me cry about 4 separate times.
Yeah. Um. Yeah. First when Wall-E is watching the old film and holds hands with himself. Second when Eve shuts down and Wall-E didn't know what to do. Third when Wall-E dances with Eve. And fourth, which continued for pretty much the rest of the movie, starting when Wall-E gets shocked by that evil fucking henchman robot. And yeah, that was like, 10 minutes from the end of the movie, maybe 15, but I was crying until that spark brought Wall-E back ;__;
3.] It was a good movie. Not just a good kid's film, not just a sad film, it was a good movie.
4.] It played homage to all the good Sci-Fi tropes.
Eve? She's Ripley from Alien. No, seriously, she is. Eve is the quintessential sci-fi movie heroine: tough chick, big gun, got a mission, got a plan. It's fantastic!! She's the dominate one in the Wall-E/Eve relationship! Gotta love those boys over at Pixar *hugs*. And Wall-E...was there ever a cuter excuse for a sad nerd boy in the universe? I mean, my gosh. I could just hug that little, adorable, lonely, pathetic robot for the rest of my life. That darling.
5.] The environmental/consumerism message? Didn't bug me.
Hi. *Waves*. I'm one of those raving, Randian-capitalists (no hate mail, please!). I hate nature. I think we should pollute the planet until our suffering motivates us to get the hell off this planet and move on to the rest of the galaxy, because right now we have our eggs in one basket.
And I LOVED this movie. Yeah. Me. Crazed capitalistic nature-hater. Loved Wall-E. Loved it.
This movie, I swear, will do more for the green movement than a hundred Al Gore's. Why? Because even when it was bashing you over the head with it (Buy-N-Large! BNL enterprises! *little jingle here*), it wasn't bashing you over the head with it. Or at least, you didn't mind so much. Even the whole obesity thing was okay, because they were like "Oh, it's micro-gravity". And I was like "Cool. You gave me an explanation that wasn't 'please, America, get fit'." Rock on.
Okay, this turned into me waxing poetic about Wall-E. Let's move on...
Top Tier:
Toy Story:
Of course. This movie, made, what, 15 years ago? is still stunning today. Visually stunning, at that. What CG movie - besides Pixar ones - can stay they still look exactly the same quality as movies being made today? It is really amazing how well this, the first of all CG movies (entirely CG movies), holds up. Really, really, amazing. If you haven't watched it recently, go back and take a look.
Besides the graphics, the story-telling is superb. It's a movie about how digital shouldn't replace analogue, and that beneath it all, the two need a heart to be worth anything, no matter the medium.
Yeah. Welcome to Pixar sending a message to every other movie studio that came after them and tried to copy them - and failed, in the long run. Because no one comes close to the Pixar movies in terms of story telling, memorable characters, and heart. And Pixar knew that was what was going to happen. They knew, from movie number one, that their movies had to still be good movies (see Wall-E) at base, to be worth anything: the shiny, fancy exterior (Buzz) makes no difference if there is nothing within. And moreover, the analogue mediums, like hand-drawn animation (Woody) shouldn't feel threatened: if they are still good, then that quality shines through no matter what. I think Disney's most recent foray into hand-drawn movies, with the Princess and the Frog (which I thought was absolutely lovely, all racism debates aside) shows that the two can coexist, and I sincerely hope they continue to.
Up:
Talk about a tear-jerker. Holy goodness. When a movie has me crying within the first 5 minutes, I know I'm totally lost. And yeah, so I was projecting onto the little girl (Elle, right?), because she was a chatty little tom-boy who wanted to go on adventures and then she grew up and had a wonderful life but then never got to...hang on...*finds a tissue*. Sorry. Teared up there. But, seriously, don't we all relate to that? Whether or not we specifically wanted to go on "adventures", we all have dreams that were waylaid by life, even if they were silly things that could never happen (eg: Meet Santa Claus and live with him!). Sure, they're mostly things we don't see as a great loss, because they're silly. And many of us end up having lives that are just lovely and wonderful outside of those silly dreams. But the dreams still embodied something about us, something wonderful, and...okay. Tearing up again. Really, the first five minutes of this movie communicates everything I'm trying to say and more, and better, so just go watch it. Once again, Pixar being absolutely amazing and communicating an entire story - an entire life - without words.
Aside from that, the movie was just magical. That little boy was just eat-him-up cute, and so damn earnest. And every time his dad would come up in conversation...well, this movie did not treat my tear ducts very well. Even the damn dog made me cry, when the old guy yelled at him. I mean, seriously Pixar.
And then, of course, there was the visual of the two chairs next to the waterfall. If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean. Pixar: you are run by amazing, evil people.
High Tier:
Ratatouille:
Hey, I spelled that right on the first go!
This movie was adorable, really, really sweet. Little rat, wanted to be a chef...just great. And wow, the visuals on that kitchen. Damn. That was just pretty. The story was a classic be-yourself sort of thing, and accept-others typical Disney/Pixar stuff. But the message that really got me, and put this movie into the high tier, was the one imparted to us by the ever wonderful Peter O'Toole:
The best cooking you will ever taste will be your mother's. Other chefs will only be good if they can remind you of that.
*Tears up*
Sorry, I'm Italian. Messages like that really speak to my heart.
Excuse me while I go and eat a bowl of my mom's pasta.
One other thing I really liked about this movie was that it was like an old-fashioned kid movie, insofar as it treated kids like adults. I mean, there's fire, cooking, sharp knives, French, even wine and drinking. But, hell, that's how you cook, right? So I like that there wasn't any dumbing-down or changing of how it is (though I'm sure there were some changes, I just am ignorant as to the inner workings of fine restaurants). It went for authentic, rather than PC or "kiddy". Rock on, Pixar.
And, once again: strong female character. These guys and girls over at Pixar are really doing little girls a service.
Toy Story 3:
Yeah, I know it just came out, but it was really honestly that good.
What really got me about this movie was about how pants-shittingly-terrifying it was. Me, my mother and brother (who is now in college) were clutching each other and screaming "RUN! RUN!!!!" everytime that freaky baby showed up.
What baby, you're asking?
Oh, why the BABY FROM HELL!!!
Fucking hell! RUN!! RUNN!!!
Sorry. Flashbacks. My gosh!! That's a kid's movie's villain! A kid's movie! That thing! It looks like Chukie's kid, or something! Gagh!!
And then the mastermind villain was a bear who...get this...smells like strawberries.
...
Is that the freakiest thing you've ever heard? They make repeated points of saying this throughout the entire movie. It's incredibly disconsorting, for reasons I can't explain.
Also: Repeated Ken gay jokes. Win.
Finding Nemo:
You'll come to realize - if you haven't already - that I think kid's movies should be scary. I belong to the "Fifel" school of kid's movies: as long as there's a happy ending, rip the kid's heart out all you want. Remember Land Before Time? Remember when Little Foot's mom died?
Well, now you do:
Yeah, kid's movies used to be awful. They used to be scarring.
Speaking of scarring...
Horse death!
Yeah. I bet you thought you were the only one who still had nightmares about that damn horse. I, a woman in my mid-twenties, still have nightmares about that FUCKING HORSE.
How can you be pulled down by the weight of your own self-doubt, Atarax? YOU DON'T HAVE THOUGHTS! GET OUT OF THE DAMN MUD!!!
Point is, kid's movies should be scary. Kid's movies should have serious, life-or-death consequences. Kids can totally handle it: I swear. I was a kid, once. I've taught kids for about a decade now. I know what they can handle, and they can handle death in their movies, and mortal peril, and drawbacks and mistakes and terribleness. So long as everything works out in the end.
Finding Nemo definitely captured that quality. I mean, angler fish, sharks, evil little girl, that scary motor filter thingy in the fish tank - all super scary experiences. Heck, Nemo's mum dies at the beginning (because what's a good Disney movie without a dead mom?). But it's all okay - everything works out in the end.
Plus, who can't love Dory?
Mid Tier:
Monsters, Inc.
Okay, so, can someone package up this little girl and give her to me? Because I love her. Wow. Someone at Pixar has a daughter, because they always end up writing little girls perfectly. All too often you get little prissy girly-girls in these kid's movies/shows, but Pixar really writes little girls right. They did this in Toy Story 3, too. All tough and fearless and so adorably hyper.
That scene where Boo is running across the hallway, shouting "Kitty!" and chasing Sully? Oh my gosh. Cracks me up every time.
I also love the whole world they set up here: the Monsters are real, they come through our closet doors (which look like our closet doors), and they're assigned to humans. Some monsters work on particular kids, some monsters don't. Really cute. And of course, that end bit with laughter turning into a better resource than screams...was someone at Pixar disagreeing with Machiavelli? Or am I just giving them too much credit... ~.^
Plus, animation-wise, the sequence where they're running between worlds and doors, with the gravity shifts and everything, was really superb and well-done. That took a bit of thinking with portals (before Portal was even out!).
Low Tier:
A Bug's Life
A lot of people seem to rate this movie a lot lower than I do. I personally thought it was adorable when it first came out, and watched it so may times that I had it memorized (literally. I would fall asleep at night by playing the entire movie to myself in my head). I don't know exactly what it is about this movie that makes others dislike it, but I enjoyed it. Sure, it's not quite to the level of amazing that some of the other Pixar movies are, but it's still a delightful movie to sit around and watch with the kids.
Toy Story 2:
Confession: Hated this movie when it first came out. Well, hated it as much as I can hate a Pixar movie. But had some serious issues with it. I'm not sure what it was exactly. I didn't like Jessie - one of Pixar's few failures with female characters, in my opinion. The whole "collector" plot just didn't feel very...I dunno, Toy Story-y to me.
But, I've watched it since then, and I've revised my opinion. Sure, the collector plot is a little oddly adult-oriented, but it's alright: I get it. And Jessie's alright too, I guess. I suppose letting the message sink in what was finally won me over to this movie: not just "Play with your toys", but more of a broader sort of "Play with your life" theme.
I think my biggest original problem with this movie was that I saw it at an in-between age: too old to be satisfied with the kid movie aspect, too young to really imbibe the adult message.
Incredibles:
Give me another 5 years, and I might move this movie up. I know, I know: this is in a lot of people's top 3 Pixar movies. But for me...I dunno. This might have been another one of those cases where I was just a weird age for the movie. I wasn't completely into comic-book culture by then, the way I am now, and so a lot of the nudges and jokes might have gone past me.
On the other hand, I really have to credit Pixar for being ahead of it's time with this one. I remember it coming out right around the Fantastic Four, and had in fact been in production long before that. So the guys at Pixar were really doing this out of a love for superhero lore, rather than a sort of trend thing. Of course, their timing was great, since the turn of the century has really been the era of the superhero in movies.
There were a lot of witty, fun things about this movie. The fashion designer's "no capes" montage was great, and the villain as-a-fanboy just tickled me. Still, it did seem to lack a sort of Pixar heart element that is necessary for me in these sorts of movies. If I'm not horrified or crying, the movie didn't do it for me.
Like I said, give me another five years, and I might revise my opinion on this one. I understand on an intellectual level what people see in this movie, but I still think it was missing something.
Bottom Tier:
Cars:
Fuck you, Cars. Fuck you.
Holy shit was this moving annoying.
116 minutes. That's 4 minutes short of a two hour run time. What, did you get Peter Jackson to direct this flick? It's a kid's movie!
What really makes it terrible, is I felt every freaking minute of those two hours. Compare this to Wall-E (because, yeah, fuck you, it seriously is the greatest Pixar movie ever, deal with it) which ran 98 minutes. Damn, that's only an 18 minute difference. And Wall-E was practically a silent film: that's gotta end up feeling way longer than a fun, fast-paced movie about racecars, right?!
Yeah, no.
Let me tell you Wall-E in three acts: Wall-E is alone on Earth. Wall-E meets Eve. Wall-E and Eve team up and rescue Earth. DONE. That's it, in my mind: Earth alone, Earth with Eve, and Space. Perfect.
Let me tell you Cars: Um...there was a racecar. Then he got lost. Then he met other cars. That were...poor? Except one was a Porsche. And the flies are cars. Wait. Why the hell are the flies cars? Do flies normally look like humans? Holy shit, fucking annoying racism going on here with the Italian cars and the Ferrari's and the stupid freaking hippie car with the tough veteran dad. We get it, already!
Oh, and then the main character is completely unlikeable.
Nice job, Pixar.
Now, mind you, is this movie the level of terribleness of, say, Transformers? Not a chance in hell. But it's no Wall-E. It's no Toy Story. Hell, it's not even A Bug's Life.
Cars sucked.
But, everything else Pixar has ever done rests in the God Tier of movies. This was just me subdividing further.
Feel free to disagree with me in the comments, and just know that if I start an argument, it's not personal, just healthy debate :P
God Tier:
Wall-E:
This movie was absolutely amazing, for many, many reasons.
1.] It was a silent film - and it was captivating.
There is no dialogue - none - in the film for the first 23 minutes of the movie (same timestamp as 2001's first dialogue - coincidence?). And even then, the first dialogue aside from "Wall-E" and "Ev-ah" doesn't even come into play until about 40 minutes into the movie. And yet, I dare you to put on this movie as "background noise". Because I've tried. I've been working on a project or fic or something, put the movie on because I'm sick of my Gaga + Bowie playlist and want something else. Then I end up getting no work done, because I just end up staring at this movie for it's full 98 minute run time. And every second of it is spectacular.
Moreover, this is a kid's film. A kid's film in 2008. This is a film made for kids who never didn't have cell phones and computers (spoiled little brats). This kids were born after the invention and wide dissemination of the mp3 player. As wired as I am, Miss Can't-go-two-days-without-internet-before-trying-to-murder-entire-family, these kids are approaching the singularity.
And yet. Plop them in front of this silent film...and they are hooked. They are focused. They will not leave, because this movie does more than words or dialogue ever will. And it is done brilliantly.
2.] It made me cry about 4 separate times.
Yeah. Um. Yeah. First when Wall-E is watching the old film and holds hands with himself. Second when Eve shuts down and Wall-E didn't know what to do. Third when Wall-E dances with Eve. And fourth, which continued for pretty much the rest of the movie, starting when Wall-E gets shocked by that evil fucking henchman robot. And yeah, that was like, 10 minutes from the end of the movie, maybe 15, but I was crying until that spark brought Wall-E back ;__;
3.] It was a good movie. Not just a good kid's film, not just a sad film, it was a good movie.
4.] It played homage to all the good Sci-Fi tropes.
Eve? She's Ripley from Alien. No, seriously, she is. Eve is the quintessential sci-fi movie heroine: tough chick, big gun, got a mission, got a plan. It's fantastic!! She's the dominate one in the Wall-E/Eve relationship! Gotta love those boys over at Pixar *hugs*. And Wall-E...was there ever a cuter excuse for a sad nerd boy in the universe? I mean, my gosh. I could just hug that little, adorable, lonely, pathetic robot for the rest of my life. That darling.
5.] The environmental/consumerism message? Didn't bug me.
Hi. *Waves*. I'm one of those raving, Randian-capitalists (no hate mail, please!). I hate nature. I think we should pollute the planet until our suffering motivates us to get the hell off this planet and move on to the rest of the galaxy, because right now we have our eggs in one basket.
And I LOVED this movie. Yeah. Me. Crazed capitalistic nature-hater. Loved Wall-E. Loved it.
This movie, I swear, will do more for the green movement than a hundred Al Gore's. Why? Because even when it was bashing you over the head with it (Buy-N-Large! BNL enterprises! *little jingle here*), it wasn't bashing you over the head with it. Or at least, you didn't mind so much. Even the whole obesity thing was okay, because they were like "Oh, it's micro-gravity". And I was like "Cool. You gave me an explanation that wasn't 'please, America, get fit'." Rock on.
Okay, this turned into me waxing poetic about Wall-E. Let's move on...
Top Tier:
Toy Story:
Of course. This movie, made, what, 15 years ago? is still stunning today. Visually stunning, at that. What CG movie - besides Pixar ones - can stay they still look exactly the same quality as movies being made today? It is really amazing how well this, the first of all CG movies (entirely CG movies), holds up. Really, really, amazing. If you haven't watched it recently, go back and take a look.
Besides the graphics, the story-telling is superb. It's a movie about how digital shouldn't replace analogue, and that beneath it all, the two need a heart to be worth anything, no matter the medium.
Yeah. Welcome to Pixar sending a message to every other movie studio that came after them and tried to copy them - and failed, in the long run. Because no one comes close to the Pixar movies in terms of story telling, memorable characters, and heart. And Pixar knew that was what was going to happen. They knew, from movie number one, that their movies had to still be good movies (see Wall-E) at base, to be worth anything: the shiny, fancy exterior (Buzz) makes no difference if there is nothing within. And moreover, the analogue mediums, like hand-drawn animation (Woody) shouldn't feel threatened: if they are still good, then that quality shines through no matter what. I think Disney's most recent foray into hand-drawn movies, with the Princess and the Frog (which I thought was absolutely lovely, all racism debates aside) shows that the two can coexist, and I sincerely hope they continue to.
Up:
Talk about a tear-jerker. Holy goodness. When a movie has me crying within the first 5 minutes, I know I'm totally lost. And yeah, so I was projecting onto the little girl (Elle, right?), because she was a chatty little tom-boy who wanted to go on adventures and then she grew up and had a wonderful life but then never got to...hang on...*finds a tissue*. Sorry. Teared up there. But, seriously, don't we all relate to that? Whether or not we specifically wanted to go on "adventures", we all have dreams that were waylaid by life, even if they were silly things that could never happen (eg: Meet Santa Claus and live with him!). Sure, they're mostly things we don't see as a great loss, because they're silly. And many of us end up having lives that are just lovely and wonderful outside of those silly dreams. But the dreams still embodied something about us, something wonderful, and...okay. Tearing up again. Really, the first five minutes of this movie communicates everything I'm trying to say and more, and better, so just go watch it. Once again, Pixar being absolutely amazing and communicating an entire story - an entire life - without words.
Aside from that, the movie was just magical. That little boy was just eat-him-up cute, and so damn earnest. And every time his dad would come up in conversation...well, this movie did not treat my tear ducts very well. Even the damn dog made me cry, when the old guy yelled at him. I mean, seriously Pixar.
And then, of course, there was the visual of the two chairs next to the waterfall. If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean. Pixar: you are run by amazing, evil people.
High Tier:
Ratatouille:
Hey, I spelled that right on the first go!
This movie was adorable, really, really sweet. Little rat, wanted to be a chef...just great. And wow, the visuals on that kitchen. Damn. That was just pretty. The story was a classic be-yourself sort of thing, and accept-others typical Disney/Pixar stuff. But the message that really got me, and put this movie into the high tier, was the one imparted to us by the ever wonderful Peter O'Toole:
The best cooking you will ever taste will be your mother's. Other chefs will only be good if they can remind you of that.
*Tears up*
Sorry, I'm Italian. Messages like that really speak to my heart.
Excuse me while I go and eat a bowl of my mom's pasta.
One other thing I really liked about this movie was that it was like an old-fashioned kid movie, insofar as it treated kids like adults. I mean, there's fire, cooking, sharp knives, French, even wine and drinking. But, hell, that's how you cook, right? So I like that there wasn't any dumbing-down or changing of how it is (though I'm sure there were some changes, I just am ignorant as to the inner workings of fine restaurants). It went for authentic, rather than PC or "kiddy". Rock on, Pixar.
And, once again: strong female character. These guys and girls over at Pixar are really doing little girls a service.
Toy Story 3:
Yeah, I know it just came out, but it was really honestly that good.
What really got me about this movie was about how pants-shittingly-terrifying it was. Me, my mother and brother (who is now in college) were clutching each other and screaming "RUN! RUN!!!!" everytime that freaky baby showed up.
What baby, you're asking?
Oh, why the BABY FROM HELL!!!
Fucking hell! RUN!! RUNN!!!
Sorry. Flashbacks. My gosh!! That's a kid's movie's villain! A kid's movie! That thing! It looks like Chukie's kid, or something! Gagh!!
And then the mastermind villain was a bear who...get this...smells like strawberries.
...
Is that the freakiest thing you've ever heard? They make repeated points of saying this throughout the entire movie. It's incredibly disconsorting, for reasons I can't explain.
Also: Repeated Ken gay jokes. Win.
Finding Nemo:
You'll come to realize - if you haven't already - that I think kid's movies should be scary. I belong to the "Fifel" school of kid's movies: as long as there's a happy ending, rip the kid's heart out all you want. Remember Land Before Time? Remember when Little Foot's mom died?
Well, now you do:
Yeah, kid's movies used to be awful. They used to be scarring.
Speaking of scarring...
Horse death!
Yeah. I bet you thought you were the only one who still had nightmares about that damn horse. I, a woman in my mid-twenties, still have nightmares about that FUCKING HORSE.
How can you be pulled down by the weight of your own self-doubt, Atarax? YOU DON'T HAVE THOUGHTS! GET OUT OF THE DAMN MUD!!!
Point is, kid's movies should be scary. Kid's movies should have serious, life-or-death consequences. Kids can totally handle it: I swear. I was a kid, once. I've taught kids for about a decade now. I know what they can handle, and they can handle death in their movies, and mortal peril, and drawbacks and mistakes and terribleness. So long as everything works out in the end.
Finding Nemo definitely captured that quality. I mean, angler fish, sharks, evil little girl, that scary motor filter thingy in the fish tank - all super scary experiences. Heck, Nemo's mum dies at the beginning (because what's a good Disney movie without a dead mom?). But it's all okay - everything works out in the end.
Plus, who can't love Dory?
Mid Tier:
Monsters, Inc.
Okay, so, can someone package up this little girl and give her to me? Because I love her. Wow. Someone at Pixar has a daughter, because they always end up writing little girls perfectly. All too often you get little prissy girly-girls in these kid's movies/shows, but Pixar really writes little girls right. They did this in Toy Story 3, too. All tough and fearless and so adorably hyper.
That scene where Boo is running across the hallway, shouting "Kitty!" and chasing Sully? Oh my gosh. Cracks me up every time.
I also love the whole world they set up here: the Monsters are real, they come through our closet doors (which look like our closet doors), and they're assigned to humans. Some monsters work on particular kids, some monsters don't. Really cute. And of course, that end bit with laughter turning into a better resource than screams...was someone at Pixar disagreeing with Machiavelli? Or am I just giving them too much credit... ~.^
Plus, animation-wise, the sequence where they're running between worlds and doors, with the gravity shifts and everything, was really superb and well-done. That took a bit of thinking with portals (before Portal was even out!).
Low Tier:
A Bug's Life
A lot of people seem to rate this movie a lot lower than I do. I personally thought it was adorable when it first came out, and watched it so may times that I had it memorized (literally. I would fall asleep at night by playing the entire movie to myself in my head). I don't know exactly what it is about this movie that makes others dislike it, but I enjoyed it. Sure, it's not quite to the level of amazing that some of the other Pixar movies are, but it's still a delightful movie to sit around and watch with the kids.
Toy Story 2:
Confession: Hated this movie when it first came out. Well, hated it as much as I can hate a Pixar movie. But had some serious issues with it. I'm not sure what it was exactly. I didn't like Jessie - one of Pixar's few failures with female characters, in my opinion. The whole "collector" plot just didn't feel very...I dunno, Toy Story-y to me.
But, I've watched it since then, and I've revised my opinion. Sure, the collector plot is a little oddly adult-oriented, but it's alright: I get it. And Jessie's alright too, I guess. I suppose letting the message sink in what was finally won me over to this movie: not just "Play with your toys", but more of a broader sort of "Play with your life" theme.
I think my biggest original problem with this movie was that I saw it at an in-between age: too old to be satisfied with the kid movie aspect, too young to really imbibe the adult message.
Incredibles:
Give me another 5 years, and I might move this movie up. I know, I know: this is in a lot of people's top 3 Pixar movies. But for me...I dunno. This might have been another one of those cases where I was just a weird age for the movie. I wasn't completely into comic-book culture by then, the way I am now, and so a lot of the nudges and jokes might have gone past me.
On the other hand, I really have to credit Pixar for being ahead of it's time with this one. I remember it coming out right around the Fantastic Four, and had in fact been in production long before that. So the guys at Pixar were really doing this out of a love for superhero lore, rather than a sort of trend thing. Of course, their timing was great, since the turn of the century has really been the era of the superhero in movies.
There were a lot of witty, fun things about this movie. The fashion designer's "no capes" montage was great, and the villain as-a-fanboy just tickled me. Still, it did seem to lack a sort of Pixar heart element that is necessary for me in these sorts of movies. If I'm not horrified or crying, the movie didn't do it for me.
Like I said, give me another five years, and I might revise my opinion on this one. I understand on an intellectual level what people see in this movie, but I still think it was missing something.
Bottom Tier:
Cars:
Fuck you, Cars. Fuck you.
Holy shit was this moving annoying.
116 minutes. That's 4 minutes short of a two hour run time. What, did you get Peter Jackson to direct this flick? It's a kid's movie!
What really makes it terrible, is I felt every freaking minute of those two hours. Compare this to Wall-E (because, yeah, fuck you, it seriously is the greatest Pixar movie ever, deal with it) which ran 98 minutes. Damn, that's only an 18 minute difference. And Wall-E was practically a silent film: that's gotta end up feeling way longer than a fun, fast-paced movie about racecars, right?!
Yeah, no.
Let me tell you Wall-E in three acts: Wall-E is alone on Earth. Wall-E meets Eve. Wall-E and Eve team up and rescue Earth. DONE. That's it, in my mind: Earth alone, Earth with Eve, and Space. Perfect.
Let me tell you Cars: Um...there was a racecar. Then he got lost. Then he met other cars. That were...poor? Except one was a Porsche. And the flies are cars. Wait. Why the hell are the flies cars? Do flies normally look like humans? Holy shit, fucking annoying racism going on here with the Italian cars and the Ferrari's and the stupid freaking hippie car with the tough veteran dad. We get it, already!
Oh, and then the main character is completely unlikeable.
Nice job, Pixar.
Now, mind you, is this movie the level of terribleness of, say, Transformers? Not a chance in hell. But it's no Wall-E. It's no Toy Story. Hell, it's not even A Bug's Life.
Cars sucked.
But, everything else Pixar has ever done rests in the God Tier of movies. This was just me subdividing further.
