Dystopian Nightmare, party of two...

Well, I tell ya what, wow. I don't really go to many movies anymore, but I went and saw WALL-E and The Dark Knight over the weekend and was quite pleased with what I found. Depressed and heartbroken, but pleased...

WARNING: The following contains spoilers...

The Dark Knight

I had heard from just about every critic on the planet that The Dark Knight would be spectacular, so I went in with pretty high expectations. For the most part, the film absolutely lived up to those expectations. Heath Ledger's performance was (and I'm not just saying this because he died), as harolded, pretty incredible. His acting ability is beyond reproach, and that coupled with the face-paint and the voice he created for the character really allowed the viewer to forgot it was Heath. The usual problem with getting a big name for a role is that they can't dissolve into that role. The audience spends the whole time being constantly reminded that it's Jack Nicholson (every film he's ever been in ever--what a hack), or Tom Cruise (especially after he became a total loon, it's hard to watch him in anything at all), or Charlize Theron (the film Monster was pretty damn distracting in this regard). But not here. I was so completely taken with the Joker that it hardly even crossed my mind that it was Heath all along. Okay, and the part where he says to Batman, "You complete me," had me rolling in the aisles. Awesome.

Speaking of the Joker, from the perspective of the narrative itself, I found it extremely refreshing to have a villain who was truly menacing. I didn't spend the entire film knowing full well that the good guys would win and that they would triumph with some special something or other... Quite to the contrary, in fact, I spent most of the film thinking to myself, "Ummm, I don't think Batman's gonna win..." I was also pleased to see that even when the good guys sorta won, it was largely a loss as well. That Harvey Dent became a villain, that Batman took the fall, that so many public officials were killed, that Rachel (now played by someone the audience might actually care about--more on that later) was blown up, that the entire city was plunged into mind-blowing terror, and that there's no end in sight hardly seems like a victory, even with the Joker in custody. Clearly, custody can't hold him and things are only about to get worse as the police start hunting Batman. It's not quite a Pyrrhic victory, but it's not exactly a triumphant, Michael Bayish win either. I like that. It makes it more striking and more believable (well, as believable as such a film can be).

And a brief note about Rachel Dawes. Man alive it was nice to have an acutal actress in the role! Someone who was actually convincing as a district attorney! Hats off to Maggie Gyllenhaal. And as I was saying before, it was pretty much absolutely essential that they get a real actress for this part because the audience really had to care that she was killed. Her death serves as the catalyst for Harvey Dent's descent into crazytown, and if the whole audience were cheering that Katie Holmes had been blown up, I just don't think Harvey's progression would have worked. I was actually bummed that they killed her, whereas with the first film, I kept hoping Scarecrow or Ra's Al Ghul or hell, Alfred would kill her off. I'll even take a falling piano!

Speaking of death and dismemberment, holy moly this film is not for kids! I think it speaks volumes to just how screwed up America is that a film with this kind of violence gets a PG-13, but even the most innocuous sex scene or language will get a film an R rating. I'm not a censorship gal, in any regard, but as long as they're applying arbitrary standards, I think this should have absolutely garnered an R. I would much rather kids be exposed to sex and nudity than this kind of violence. Wow. The pencil gag alone was pretty horrifying, but the part where the Joker is going to cut the guy's mouth open was truly disturbing. I'm about as desensitized as it gets and I was still pretty eeked out. It could be that it brought back some much more disturbing images of Pan's Labyrinth, but still... Wow. Not for kids. Aside from it not really being appropriate for young kids, I genuinely don't think kids would enjoy this film. At all. Aside from the fact that the central plot deals with money-laundering (every 10-year-old's favorite subject, I'm sure), this was a dark, menacing, disturbing flick that I think would scare and confuse them more than anything. I bring this up because I saw some ads for Burger King or McDonald's or something that had Batman toys in the kids means and it struck me as so odd. It would be like having a toy tie-in with The Sopranos or Pulp Fiction. It struck me as so odd that they'd be hocking toys for a film that kids aren't even going to enjoy. Very strange.

Anyway, moving on to the next entry in our Dystopian Nightmare duo... and it's not who you'd think...

WALL-E

Yet another superior film with some pretty depressing subject matter. First off, however, the Pixar peeps have really knocked it out of the park with WALL-E. Aside from being as ever-gorgeous as Pixar films always are, the approach to the narrative itself was a spectacularly successful throw-back to silent cinema. Honestly, I doubt the dialouge for the entire film would fill more than a few pages. The first 45 minutes wouldn't fill two lines. Even without the usual narrative force, the film really sucked you in and wouldn't let go. I was completely captivated and hardly noticed the time pass by.

For as charming as WAll-E is, as far as Dystopian nightmares are concerned, it makes The Dark Knight look like a 1950's sitcom. I loved the film WALL-E, but also found it heartbreaking, devastating, and sobering. I think the most jarring part is that we are sadly not that far off. The future of WALL-E is now. The planet is melting, deforestation is destroying the habitat for countless species, and pollution is choking out existence, landfill by landfill. It was with a sardonic smile that I could appreciate the Wal-Martesque description of the Buy 'n' Large (an insanely great title, by the way). It was just completely gut-wrenching to see this Blade Runner type of world hit so very close to home. Indeed, I'd say Blade Runner is the aptest comparison--a comparison you wouldn't think you could even make with an animated Disney/Pixar production about an adorable robot, but there it is.

I also quite enjoyed that the spaceship harboring the sedentary, gelatinous masses that are the remnants of the human race is called the Axiom. So fitting and at the same time, so spaceship name-y. Perfect. Also, the fact that it's a cruise ship with a Lido Deck was so apt and so funny. What better way to get sedentary, useless, masses of people than with a cruise? The all-night buffet is the reason the rest of the world hates us, by the way. And, after hearing the other day that more than 1 in 6 American children and teenagers is classified as clinically obese, it's only a matter of time. The future is now, and that's pretty damn terrifying.

Aside from the more sobering aspects of the plot and premise, WALL-E is at its heart a love story. And a rather remarkably charming love story at that. I was kind of shocked at how heartbreaking and devastating it was when WALL-E might have lost his memory. It was like the air had left the theatre and everyone, eyes welling with tears, was holding on for it to be made all better again. Not an easy feat for any film. On a related note, I really think WALL-E is about the saddest character I've ever seen, and it once again harkens back to just how close we are to this kind of a future. WALL-E is a robot who has been doing the same thing, each and every day, all by himself, and with no attainable goal or end in sight. I don't know how many of you work at an office job in a cubicle, doing the same tasks every single day, but WALL-E's lot in life struck a little too close to home. And the thought of doing that for 700 years is about the dreariest fate I can imagine. WALL-E's situation was presented poignantly and beautifully and that just made it all the more effective and lasting in the mind of the viewer.

The final aspect that drove home the fact that this kind of hell is not too far off was the political approach to the problem. It was just so real it was disturbing. We really have turned into lazy, mindless, apathetic sheep who just want someone else to take care of our problems for us and that is truly pathetic and sad. Man alive, when the president said that they were going to, "Stay the course," I about died. So great. So sad. So... now. The political commentary was powerful, but at the same time, not overwhelming or heavy-handed. It didn't feel like they were even trying to send a message, it was just an organic part of such a sad story. Very well done indeed.

In short, I really loved this movie. It was so beautiful and heart-breaking and yet simultaneously devastating and uplifting. If humanity can just break out of their trance, open their eyes, and actually do something, then real change can occur. That's a pretty big "if", however... I don't have a whole lot of faith in humanity, so I'm sticking to my, "get hit by a bus before I'm 30" contingency plan, but it was really nice to see a viable representation of change.

Oh, one more thing, WALL-E is the second film I saw over the weekend that I don't really think kids will enjoy. Most animated features are intended to entertain children with the secondary objective of hopefully entertaining adults a bit. I think this film has it the other way around (quite delightfully, I might add). The truly funny, witty, and engaging aspects of the film are on an adult level and I can't help but think that kids will be bored or confused by the film. Indeed, the only marring aspect of WALL-E was watching it in a theatre. It's no secret that I don't like children, but having to watch this sweeping, gorgeous epic with little brats all around me asking questions was almost more than I could bear. "Mommy, why did he do that?" "Where are they?" "What is that?" "What's happening" "Kevin's biting me..." Oy! Okay, when I was a child and went to a movie, I was NOT ALLOWED TO TALK... AT ALL! If I got confused, so be it. I don't know what the problem is with parents today, but they seemed to think that that behavior was completley fine. Well, it's NOT FINE! Kids are stupid, I get that, but it doesn't make it okay to talk through the whole movie! It's as though the kids really thought the movie wouldn't tell us why EVE did that or where they're going. Just watch the movie, kiddies, I promise they'll tell us! Oy. Okay, rant over.

Aside from the bad parenting, seeing WALL-E was a really lovely experience. It was a very different experience, too. It was quite nice to get to stretch a different kind of mental acuity while watching. You just don't get to do that very often. Well done, Pixar. Well done.