Is it just me, or did the writers of Wall-E borrow more than a little from Idiocracy? A dystopian future where trash is piled sky-high, a giant corporation that controls a huge percentage of people’s existence, lazy humans being coddled and marketed to death, a plot line that hinges on the resuscitation of plant life…

Or were both movies borrowing from something else?

In any case, on balance, I may not have loved this as much as I hoped to, but I still enjoyed it. Some of the gags run way too long for the level of humor they’re at, like the misfortunes of the hit TV star of the hit TV series of 2505, “Ow, My Balls!” But then there are wonderful little touches throughout that gave me a good belly laugh, like Justin Long’s cameo as an M.D. at St. God’s Memorial Hospital (the Kaiser Permanente of the future?) or the motor-head graphic design that pervades everything in law enforcement.

If nothing else excels in this movie, the special effects certainly do. Loved the Costco, the Jet-skis at the Washington Monument, and the comically terrifying descendants of today’s monster trucks.

It could have been this decade’s “Network,” but it’s just too silly to achieve that kind of greatness. Then again, maybe that’s a good thing.

The movie is part Jennifer Government, part Brazil and part Planet of the Apes (with extremely stupid apes). Taken just for its core “plot” and acting, this is a bad movie. However, the background depiction of the dumbing down, sexing up, and corporatization of a largely dysfunctional 25th century society is brilliant: City sized Costcos housing law schools, hillbilly justice, jet boat races in front of the (now leaning) Washington Monument, and “Gentlemen’s Lattes.”

The “Ow, My Balls!” guy used to work for my friend Emily, doing outbound calls for a non-profit. Apparently he’s like the sweetest guy ever.

The drummer for Gwar also worked there.

oh man…smart people, please, please, please have kids! :) this movie does a nice job of showing what happens when stupid people run the world. oh wait, i guess we’re already getting a taste of that now…oops.

Part science-fiction, part dumb comedy, Mike Judge’s Idiocracy is a carefully-crafted vision of the future that presupposes the decline of intelligence so someone who is average today becomes the smartest man in the world. While a bit uneven at times, I didn’t mind since I was laughing so much. Crammed full of details and jokes, it’s fun and biting satire of the dumbing down of media, corporate takeovers, and government. Filled with great graphic design and jokes in the background, it’s funny, but it also makes you think a bit.

Half retarded, half awesome. If you like Mike Judge, then you’re probably going to like this one and overlook the weak bits (there are many of them)!

Luke Wilson is adorable, and I love Maya Rudolph, but she just seems sort of confused with her role here.