Viewed: In theatreRelease Date: June 27, 2008
writer: Andrew Stanton
director: Andrew Stanton
WALL-E is not a flawless film. There are gaps and/or leaps in logic that, if focussed upon, could hinder one's complete enjoyment of the film. Don't let it, because by and large, the latest Pixar film is an absolute wonder, a marvel of digital animation and a deceptively complex sci-fi fable. Sure, superficially WALL-E is a kid's movie, but it contains undercurrents that will resonate more with an adult audience. The marvelous thing about the film, though, is it's absolutely entertaining without putting any thought into it beyond the surface story, but if you do, if you look deeply at the various concepts and ideas that the creative team have strewn throughout, there's a commentary, perhaps a warning, about how human society is advancing (or in some respects, regressing).
The opening shot of WALL-E descends through smoggy clouds upon a metropolis filled with skyscrapers. The closer we get, we realize that not all of these buildings are what they seem, but rather hundred-storey tall piles of compacted garbage cubes, intricately and impossibly stacked like futuristic pyramids. As the camera descends amidst the surface of the city, it's utterly devoid of life (fauna or flora), and is virtually colourless, hues of steel grey, dirty umber, tarnished silver and red rust coating the landscape comprised mostly of garbage. The camera's passage through the city tells a story, as every billboard, every building is branded with the only colour in the city, a large logo sporting "BNL" or "Buy And Large". The billboards tell part of the story, noting that humanity need not worry about the garbage, just leave the earth on BNL's luxury space liners, and BNL's WALL-E units will take care of the trash in the meantime. It's obvious that whatever the plan was went awry some time ago, as those robots are now themselves garbage littering the cityscape. Eventually the camera settles on the only movement, a lone cube-shaped robot, the titular droid, and his pet cockroach. We watch as WALL-E performs his duty, collecting garbage, putting it into his belly and compressing it, spitting out a perfectly shaped cube which he stacks on a building.
For the first 10 minutes we bear witness to WALL-E's solitary life, as he performs his duty during the day, races home (the back end of a maintenance truck) to avoid dust storms at night, feeds his pet cockroach (BNL-branded Twinkie-like substances, not so improbably still good 700 years later), adds to his various collection of Zippo lighters and other curiosities, and watches with fascination a tape (channeled through an iPod, viewed through a magnifying glass) of Hello Dolly (marveling at the dance numbers and the romantic plot). WALL-E passes his days, until a massive spaceship descends upon the city, dropping off an egg-shaped, Apple-influence robot before departing again. Perhaps it's the new robot's sleek design or his own loneliness but the little droid falls hopelessly in love. Though the egg-shape seems to dismiss him, instead focussing on her directive, but WALL-E eventually befriends her, learning her name (EVE) and showing her his home, his favourite film and his collection. But when he shows her the small green plant he found, EVE returns back into directive mode and calls for pick-up.
WALL-E, obviously smitten with EVE, isn't ready to let her go, and tags along for the ride, finding himself aboard the Axiom space liner where all (or at least a portion) of surviving humanity has retreated to. Aboard the luxury cruise, robots take care of everything, including the humans who have all ballooned to gargantuan sizes, everyone resting aboard hoverchairs, a transparent projection monitor permanently before them (they don't even turn their head to talk to one another when side-by-side, instead using the screen), and all their food delivered to them (by robots) in an mastication-less cup. It's a pathetic paradise, humanity's ascendance into obsolescence. BNL's advertisements are still prevalent everywhere on the ship, and the humans only interests seem to be consuming and following directives. WALL-E's presence stirs anarchy aboard the ship, slowly at first, but builds to a crescendo by the end. He's an affable figure who introduces himself to humans and robots alike, disrupting routines and showing both man and machine there's more than just the status quo to life.
EVE's discovery of a plant on Earth is relayed back to the Captain of the ship who has to consult the emergency manual (relearning how to use a book) on what to do. But the nefarious Hal-9000-like AutoPilot has different orders and refuses to let humanity return home. For that robot, AutoPilot is the only way to be and everyone should be that way. The rest of the movie finds WALL-E, EVE, the Captain, and their merry band of reject robots bringing the first sense of excitement to the Axiom in centuries. Of course they succeed in their various objectives and WALL-E and EVE's romance reaches it's inevitable conclusion, but it's a tremendous journey of discovery and rediscovery on the path to getting there.
As I noted, WALL-E has many little comments about humanity and the path we're taking, non of it overly obtrusive or in-your-face. The reliance on machines, the degradation of human physicality, the nature of consumerism, the declining separation between government and commerce, and certainly more. There's a wealth of thought put into the visual world of the film, perhaps more so than even the story. It's the little moments (like the degenerative bone structure chart, reminiscent of human vs. sea mammal bone comparisons) that are the most rewarding.
This movie marks some amazing cinematic achievements as well, given that the primary characters don't have much dialogue, and speak in mechanically processed tones, there's almost no dialogue throughout the first half hour of the film. Sound effects wizard Ben Burtt (best known for his work on Star Wars, including R2-D2's robotic intonations) provides the "voice" of WALL-E and no doubt was in charge of processing the rest of the droid voice cast. This also marks the first time actual real world actors have incurred into a digitally animated film. Records from 700 years previous feature Fred Willard as the Global President/Buy And Large CEO, a particularly scary combination where corporate interests decide the fate of the people.
There's an almost post-apocalyptic sensibility to WALL-E, but therein also leads hope. As with any sci-fi of this sort, it acts as much as a warning as it does as entertainment. It doesn't want to beat you to death with a message, but at the same time it does make you quite aware of the possibilities it displays.
And yes, it falters at times in logic or realism (being born and raised on hover chairs would lead the humans to have no useable muscles never mind being able to support their bulky frame... or the Hello Dolly tape would have degraded after a couple decades, nevermind a few hundred years) but then, it's a cartoon and it can get away with things like that.
It's a brilliant film, nonetheless, full of wonder and joy, I was grinning and wide eyed throughout the entire film (even a little teary at times). Perfect? No, but forgivable for not being so.
Rating: 5/5
A friend took his two boys to see the movie and 2/3rds of the way through the film his eldest flips his hand up in the air and shouts "Who thinks this is the best movie ever!"
EVE's discovery of a plant on Earth is relayed back to the Captain of the ship who has to consult the emergency manual (relearning how to use a book) on what to do. But the nefarious Hal-9000-like AutoPilot has different orders and refuses to let humanity return home. For that robot, AutoPilot is the only way to be and everyone should be that way. The rest of the movie finds WALL-E, EVE, the Captain, and their merry band of reject robots bringing the first sense of excitement to the Axiom in centuries. Of course they succeed in their various objectives and WALL-E and EVE's romance reaches it's inevitable conclusion, but it's a tremendous journey of discovery and rediscovery on the path to getting there.
As I noted, WALL-E has many little comments about humanity and the path we're taking, non of it overly obtrusive or in-your-face. The reliance on machines, the degradation of human physicality, the nature of consumerism, the declining separation between government and commerce, and certainly more. There's a wealth of thought put into the visual world of the film, perhaps more so than even the story. It's the little moments (like the degenerative bone structure chart, reminiscent of human vs. sea mammal bone comparisons) that are the most rewarding.
This movie marks some amazing cinematic achievements as well, given that the primary characters don't have much dialogue, and speak in mechanically processed tones, there's almost no dialogue throughout the first half hour of the film. Sound effects wizard Ben Burtt (best known for his work on Star Wars, including R2-D2's robotic intonations) provides the "voice" of WALL-E and no doubt was in charge of processing the rest of the droid voice cast. This also marks the first time actual real world actors have incurred into a digitally animated film. Records from 700 years previous feature Fred Willard as the Global President/Buy And Large CEO, a particularly scary combination where corporate interests decide the fate of the people.
There's an almost post-apocalyptic sensibility to WALL-E, but therein also leads hope. As with any sci-fi of this sort, it acts as much as a warning as it does as entertainment. It doesn't want to beat you to death with a message, but at the same time it does make you quite aware of the possibilities it displays.
And yes, it falters at times in logic or realism (being born and raised on hover chairs would lead the humans to have no useable muscles never mind being able to support their bulky frame... or the Hello Dolly tape would have degraded after a couple decades, nevermind a few hundred years) but then, it's a cartoon and it can get away with things like that.
It's a brilliant film, nonetheless, full of wonder and joy, I was grinning and wide eyed throughout the entire film (even a little teary at times). Perfect? No, but forgivable for not being so.
Rating: 5/5
A friend took his two boys to see the movie and 2/3rds of the way through the film his eldest flips his hand up in the air and shouts "Who thinks this is the best movie ever!"