Featured Review: WALL-E

For the mini review of In Bruges starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, CLICK HERE


WALL-E




Starring- Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver, Fred Willard



Directed by Andrew Stanton




Grade: A+


"I don't want to survive, I want to live!"

A poor, lonely, hard working boy with undistinguished looks meets an eye-pleasing girl with a cold attitude. He has something she wants without even knowing it, but in the end she finds he's more than just a casual acquaintance but a true friend. He goes to save her when she's in peril, and she eventually finds herself caring about him enough to do the same. Sound like your typical romantic movie? Because it's actually the love story of two robots.

The men at Pixar are geniuses. Only they can turn a hunk of rusty scrap metal with binoculars for eyes into one of the most endearing and captivating characters in animated cinematic history. WALL-E doesn't so much as speak as form sound from a mechanical voicebox, and yet he expresses more emotion than just about any actor in any movie I've ever seen. The relationship between WALL-E and EVE is often more realistic than most love stories told on screen in live action.

With the abundance of remakes and re-imaginings of past franchises, watching such an original creation like WALL-E, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching movie history in the making, akin to past generations the first they saw Star Wars or E.T. on the big screen. This was beyond the typical Pixar film- a beautiful and well-crafted animated movie that's still just an animated movie- rather, WALL-E explored thoughts in environmentalism, consumerism, love, acceptance in society, philosophy, and what it means to be human. Pretty heady stuff for a movie typically aimed at kids. It was made almost with the adult fan in mind over the little ones.

But make no mistake, WALL-E is to be loved by everyone.

We meet the little robot 700 years after man has left Earth, destroying His planet with rampant eco-destruction. WALL-E (Waste Allocation Lift Loader Earth-Class) is purposed to help pack the waste into nifty little cubes and stack them into skyscrapers. However, long after his brothers have broke down, WALL-E develops a personality. He collects odd assortments he's never seen before, and befriends a tiny cockroach, possibly the only other "living" thing on the planet. But when a sleek robot named EVE sets down into the world, looking for something, WALL-E is instantly smitten.

This first hour of the film is both visually and thematically amazing. The animators did a great job constructing a futuristic world of giant superstores and buildings gone idle, WALL-E shuttling around the city landscape as if being the only moving thing on the planet was normal to him. But it becomes obvious he wants more when EVE arrives. With his hang-dog eyes and stoic demeanor, watching Hello Dolly! for companionship just isn't enough anymore. His natural curiosity makes for wonderful and touching humor, and the fact that he grew from an emotionless robot into one that understands feelings over the course of 700 years while his human brethren grow distant is very thought provoking.

The second half of the film isn't quite as impressive, but still a knockout by any means for other reasons. Once WALL-E arrives on the spaceship of the last race of humans in pursuit of EVE, we are introduced to a world of generic, super-obese and mindless humans (all white or black, still speaking remedial English, so it looks like Americans were the only survivors) who can't even muster the will to walk or eat anything on a plate. They're served by more advanced and intelligent robots than WALL-E, often with meaner streaks or malfunctioning units.

While not as beautifully poetic as the first half, this part still holds value in its entertainment and message. Man was made to enjoy his Earth and his fellow passengers on it. When a robot ends up learning the meaning of life and love before the humans, you know you've gone too soft as a society. Some parents may be turned off by a movie that intends to spread a message, maybe almost insulted, but WALL-E never panders. Besides, the film's target audience: children, won't understand the significance of these adult themes. They'll be too busy laughing along to WALL-E's exploration antics, which in itself was funnier than most comedies released this year.

Pixar never fails to amaze. Sometimes they hit minor snags with Cars or A Bug's Life, but even those films are triumphs compared to some of the best of competing studios. But with WALL-E, Pixar has once again raised the bar. In fact, they might have raised it too high, for when the next films come out, they'll all be compared in standards to this film. Toy Story, its sequel, even Finding Nemo, Ratatouille and The Incredibles were amazing, but were finally usurped by WALL-E. So what can possibly come along to top that? Toy Story 3?

Whatever. With Pixar, there are no guarantees, only that their imaginations are limitless, to infinity and beyond.