Review: WALL-E

WALL-E

OPENING DATE: 06/28/2008

STUDIO: Disney

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge
After 700 years of doing what he was built for – he’ll discover what he’s meant for.

Opening Statement
Pixar has demonstrated a digital midas touch since they stormed onto the big-screen scene 13 years ago with Toy Story. Almost singlehandedly, they transformed CGI animation from a gimmick into the preferred mode of children’s storytelling. From the review buzz I kept hearing, I went into WALL-E expecting it to be Pixar’s crowning achievement. It isn’t, but it’s still the best family film you’ll see this year. Brilliantly blending adorable robots with keen social commentary and genuinely good science fiction, this is an important piece of the 2008 summer line-up.

Facts of the Case
700 years after Earth has been abandoned by humanity under a pathetic heap of garbage, only one of the waste management robots left behind to clean up our mess is still active. Somewhere in that expanse of time, WALL-E (Ben Burtt) has developed sentience. Perhaps it’s the loneliness of his solitary existence, or his growing fascination with the garbage he’s been instructed to collect. Either way, he works during the day to cube up giant towers of garbage, then spends the evenings collecting interesting objects and rewatching his VHS copy of Hello Dolly. That longing for contact is fulfilled when a scout ship arrives, delivering the sleek sophisticated EVE probe bot, and WALL-E is immediately smitten. He will do anything to capture her affection, even if that means traveling through space and saving humanity.

The Evidence
There are a lot of reasons to like WALL-E. It’s a beautiful film, and one that highlights Pixar’s rare ability to make a film with almost universal appeal. The production team remembers that “family film” doesn’t mean the same thing as “kid’s movie,” and creates something parents will enjoy rather than simply tolerate. Pixar is also uncompromising with the overall vision for the film, making a number of risky choices that pay off. That said, it’s also a film with big commercial appeal. They are a studio who realizes success comes from bold risks, not safe bets.

As a film, WALL-E‘s success lives or dies on the appeal of the main character. WALL-E is onscreen almost continually, and he barely speaks. And yet, he has been infused with so much personality that the audience is transfixed by him for the whole running time. In the future, robots have more personality than humans do; personality that comes out of the functions they were built with. This semi-sentience is handled brilliantly, as simple fact rather than as miracle or global disaster.

Speaking of global disasters, WALL-E also shows a chilling version of the future. The initial view of Earth as a gigantic garbage dump is frightening, being slowly revealed as we watch WALL-E work. This isn’t a complex message, but it’s well-aimed to the audience of children: the result of our wasteful culture could destroy the world. When we finally do meet the humans, the image is even more disturbing. Massively obese people float around on chairs, their eyes taken up by screens held close to their faces. Their hearing is absorbed by electronics that connect them to the world around them, both their friends and advertising. Perhaps most scary is the fact that it’s all run by a giant corporation called BnL, which dominates the sickly sweet, Wal-Mart future. The humans are reduced to raw consumerism, a captive market from birth to death. I’m not sure how much of this young kids will get, but it’s a far more ambitious message than I’ve seen in most animated features.

In actuality, though, none of these dire messages are required to enjoy the movie. We watched WALL-E at a Saturday matinee full of young kids, and although some of the youngest tykes were asking quite a few questions throughout the film, they all left talking excitedly about how much fun it was. With the dazzling visuals, it’s easy to see why kids can get by missing out on some of these finer points. With slightly older children, though, I can see WALL-E stirring good discussions afterwards, exploring some of the topics introduced by the film. The animation is a step up from Ratatouille, bordering on photorealistic when focused on the backdrops and robots. Humans still have a ways to go, but the level of detail presented here is truly astounding, and on a much larger scale than the studio has attempted in the past.

Rebuttal Witnesses
Despite all of this praise, I have to admit that I left the theatre feeling a bit disappointed. I’m not sure that all of the risks Pixar took this time around played out as well as they have in the past.

First, there is the choice to blend some live action footage in with the animation. This is something that Pixar has never done before, and they wanted to find a vivid way to distinguish the present from the future. This choice comes with two unwanted side effects. It’s oddly distracting, for one, although I like that they chose Fred Willard (A Mighty Wind) as the BnL CEO. The animated humans still don’t look that realistic in a realistic world, and seeing real footage just reminds us of that.

It’s also a bit hard to swallow the ending. While I think it’s crucial for a movie with this social message to have an ending of hope, the conclusion of WALL-E comes far too easy. The humans aren’t as grotesque as they should be either; the animation style simply makes them cute and soft. Obviously, some limits need to be placed to protect younger viewers, but it softens the overall impact.

All of these complaints are minor ones; issues that prevent WALL-E from claiming the Pixar crown from The Incredibles, not ones that prevent it from holding its robotic head high among its peers. This is a fine family film, one I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone.

Closing Remarks
In a summer packed full of heroic adventures, the most compelling superhero may end up being its most unassuming: a cute little trash compacting robot named WALL-E. This is a film that all North American families should experience together, both for the joy of watching the film, and the meaningful discussions that will come out of its timely message.

The Verdict
After a long 700 years, WALL-E is hereby released of his duties, and free to pursue his dreams.

9/10

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