2. Wall-e
Although The Dark Knight was the most influential of 2008's blockbusters, the best belonged to the world's greatest animation studio. Pixar's finest effort, Wall-e is also one of their most unlikely successes. The first half of the movie consists entirely of two characters, neither of whom can speak in complete sentences and yet, it is one of the most enjoyable halves of any recent film, regardless of genre. Wall-e features some of the most incredible animation ever put on the big screen, from the scenes of a barren earth to a gorgeously rendered depiction of the solar system, Wall-e is a gorgeous symphony of visuals that reveal something new on every watching. The music is hardly lacking either as Thomas Newman's score brilliantly sells all of the important scenes and moments. Wall-e somehow becomes one of the most lovable of all modern movie characters, looking a bit like a cross between E.T and R2-D2 and talking about the same amount, his quest has a sense of purity and innocence that is hard to find in modern films. Although, the last half isn't quite as magical as the first, it is still imminently watchable, hilarious, and heartfelt with priceless references to past sci-fi films thrown in for good measure. Hopefully Pixar can regroup from their current slump and make something like this again, but for right now, no Pixar movie, or any animated for that matter, has ever been quite this good.