Monday, June 30, 2008

'Wall-e' Review

This movie is absolutely adorable! Disney and Pixar did a wonderful job together yet again. All of the classic elements are here: lonely, orphaned main character, surprise villain, redeeming support character and a moral to top it off!

Wall-e is by far the cutest trash-compactor I have ever seen. His character development is remarkable. From the beginning you are introduced to an obviously driven little robot that does his job as expected. Then we discover his quirk: a sense of curiosity and even a level of sentience. We see not just a robot’s random findings but a collection of sentimental pieces. Even his love and care of the cockroach shows us this very human side. Even better, through the movie he is still evolving and learning from his adventures aboard the Axiom.

With EVE we see an emotionally torn probe robot who is cold and heartless on the outside but sweet and curious also on the inside. Her development and realization of feelings by the end of the movie are quite close to human. I know I fell in love with her trigger-happy free-spirit. Among the myriad of other robots, two contend for the spot of my favorite robot. Hal, I mean, Auto, runs a decent second for his reference to Hal of 2001: A Space Odyssey. His machine logic and single-mindedness mixed with a bit of sentience make Auto a powerful steering-wheel to be reckoned with. Now the winner of my favorite robot: Mo! That little thing is so absolutely adorable! His single-minded OCD and change of heart made me smile. “Mo.”

The satirical portrayal of human society is quite shocking, coming from a Disney movie. I know that was a part of the moral, but it was much too deep for a children’s movie. This portrayal, while amusing, really amazed me at the direction Disney is going with its allusions to real life. This outlook, though fictional, is very harsh. I would definitely need to question the writers and directors on their decision to include this portrayal. Surely there are better ways to show the humans’ dependency on robots without insulting us. At the same time though, they did a helluva job on the portrayal. It was completely believable, within bounds of course. I found it just as eye opening when Mary first realizes there’s life beyond the hover-chair.

So overall, I would not rave over Wall-e. However, the individual elements came together to create a movie that, as a whole, is worth seeing. Go out and see it! Wall-e is a wonderful addition to a Pixar fan’s collection.

3 comments:

  1. See, while I was surprised by the scathing societal criticisms in the film as well, I actually thought it was one of the best parts of the movie. Apart from Wall-E being so damned cute, the BnL segments that really made that movie for me.

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  2. I have to say it kinda sucker punched me the society thing...but 700 years with modulated gravity and just floating around would do damage...i saw it as something believable...plus th commentary of what could happen if corporations ruled everything more than they already do...I loved walle. This brought pixar back for me...

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  3. Of course this is going to be the post I leave a comment on :p The way I see it is that (rather ironically, considering that they are a part of Disney and are owned by Steve Jobs) Pixar is making a statement on corporations and rampant capitalism. The humans in the story are not necessarily bad or "slaves to the corporation," but are rather the result of allowing cheap, mass produced products under a single corporate entity to perpetuate. The people aren't trapped by BnL, they are simply unaware that an alternative exists, as can be seen with Mary and John. Pixar is telling us "Hey, get your heads out of your asses or this is what's going to happen in a couple hundred years."

    But don't get me started on the corporation ;)

    Also Auto rules.

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