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1/8/2008
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Wall∙E (2008)
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In 2815, seven hundred years after humans have evacuated Earth, little Wall∙E is still diligently collecting and compacting the vast piles of rubbish that we left behind. He is the last of his kind, and the centuries alone have led him to develop a bit of a technical glitch – a personality. Wall∙E is fascinated by the interesting knick-knacks that he finds among the waste and debris, and carefully files them away in the hideaway that he shares with a lively cockroach (his only companion). It’s quite charming to see him interacting with everyday objects; putting a bra over his eyes like glasses, discarding a diamond ring to better inspect the box it came in, wondering whether to put his spork with his spoon or fork collection.
The designers and animators have done a wonderful job with their central character; Wall∙E definitely looks like a robot, but little details enable us to connect with him emotionally. His curiosity is vital to this, but it’s also in the movement of his eye lenses, the little noises he makes (all credit to Ben Burtt for those) the way he expresses fear and determination, and his loneliness. When Wall∙E falls for EVE, a robot sent to look for signs of life on the barren planet, we really feel for him. We understand his frustration when it seems as though his feelings are unrequited, and we root for him when he decides to hitch a ride on the spaceship that takes the object of his affections back into space.
Watching Wall∙E just pottering about on Earth is such a joy that when the action transfers to the huge space ship Axiom, where the last humans are living, it takes a while to adjust to all the noise, colour and dialogue. The humans here have become like lazy, fat babies; they ride around on recliners and talk to each other on personal computer screens, even if the person they’re talking to is right next to them. Robots bring them their food in cups, and play tennis and golf for them while they watch. Their time in space coupled with their complete inactivity has rendered them unable even to walk. It’s a strong indictment of consumer culture (everything is part of the Buy’N’Large corporation that filled the Earth with rubbish in the first place) as well as mankind’s willingness to do nothing in the face of global warming – serious stuff for an animated film about a cute robot.
That the message of the film compliments the action and characters rather than overwhelms them is to Pixar’s credit; Wall∙E’s quest to be reunited with EVE, and to help the captain get the spaceship back to Earth is what drives the film and ensures that it’s a fun-filled family movie. You can read more into it if you choose to (and adults will be much more aware of the issues that the film raises than younger audience members) or you can enjoy Wall∙E simply as what it’s been marketed as: an entertaining film about a ridiculously cute robot.
Review by Catherine Leopold
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