(02) WALL-E

Directed by Andrew Stanton
Starring Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight
98 mins.
Rated G

I firmly believe that, along with Ratatouille, Pixar has achieved a level of brilliance in genre film over a short period that equals that of the Lucas/Spielberg Star Wars/Raiders of the Lost Ark era. The fact that you can release a movie like Ratatouille, one of the most beautiful, smart animated films ever made, and then come right back the next year and EASILY top it, is something you just don't see very often. The choice to do the first third of the film with basically no dialogue was an incredibly risky choice that had every possibility of backfiring terribly for Pixar, but instead plays like a Charlie Chaplin film. And WALL-E truly is the Little Tramp for this generation. A masterpiece.