WALL-E

Wilsford's Review

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Notable Characters:
Ben Burtt – WALL-E
Elissa Knight – Eve
Jeff Garlin - Captain

Plot (contains spoilers):
When human consumption has left behind too much garbage that Earth becomes uninhabitable, Big N’ Large, the company that provides us with everything, offers to send the entire Earth’s population on a five year space cruise while the clean up the mess. The Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class robot or WALL-E is there to do the job. Unfortunately he has been doing it for 700 years. Working all alone amidst skyscrapers of garbage, WALL-E roams around not only cubing garbage but also collecting interesting items, watching musicals, and interacting with his only friend a cockroach. A spacecraft lands in an opening and leaves behind Eve. Immediately WALL-E is drawn to her and after some explosive encounters, they become friends. However Eve is there for a purpose and that purpose is to find vegetation. Once she finds a plant she takes it and goes into lockdown mode. Not knowing what happened to his friend, WALL-E does everything he can to care for her while she is out. The spacecraft returns for Eve and not wanting his friend to leave, WALL-E grabs holds and is taken on the journey through space to the human “cruise” ship. Big N’ Large has taken care of all of our needs. They have provided many activities, hover chairs to ease getting around, and robots to bring us all the food we want. When we arrive at the ship we find that after 700 years in space, humans have gotten lazy and grossly obese. The arrival of the plant causes some great drama, as an Eve robot, Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, has never brought back a plant. The captain therefore must start operation re-colonize however the ship’s main computer is operating under different orders: stay in space. Skip over about 20 minutes of conflict, WALL-E, Eve, and humans overcome the computer and come back to Earth.

Reason why I didn’t like it:
• Not as funny as what I was expecting. I did laugh a lot however there wasn’t a constant flow of laughter because it was a serious movie at parts.

Reasons why I liked it:
• The animation was fantastic. The detail of the animation was superb. For earlier animated movies, the animation of the focus of the scene was great, however the background and surfaces are simple, smooth, and monochromatic. This movie had great detail for everything and it, animation wise, is on its own level.
• The story was really good. It was funny and the love story was unique to Pixar. I had read that some thought that the story was a little too mature for Pixar’s target audience. I thought that kids enjoyed it. One of the perks for seeing a movie on its release is that you can see it with its target audience. While at times it was annoying to be in a theater of children, it allowed me to witness that little people got really attached to the story.
• The story telling was good. I didn’t realize it during the movie but my friend Nate pointed out that there was virtually no dialogue. Other than the robots saying “Eve” and “WALL-E” for the first hour they communicated everything through sounds and gestures and that is impressive both for this point and my animation point.

Final Notes: I liked this movie although not as much as “The Incredibles”. However this movie will be a real hit with your kids. If you don’t have kids and have a heart, you will enjoy it as well. Do see this in a theater because I do think you will miss some of the fantastic animation.



Young's Review

'WALL-E', the latest film from Pixar Studios, is a portrait of irony.

Never has a character displayed so poignantly what it means to be human. The irony, of course, is that WALL-E is a robot.

This film is a perfect blend of eye popping visuals, humor and poignancy. At it's core, 'WALL-E' is simply a wonderful story and it is worthy of a 'thumbs up'.

WALL-E is the last of several hundred robots designed to rid earth of a catastrophic waste problem. He is designed to gather trash and compact it into easily stored squares. All of humanity is off in space living in massive ships awaiting the day when it can return home.

WALL-E is just going through the motions of a typical day when a spaceship lands and throws his world for a loop. A machine, named EVE, begins searching for some form of life. After initially being terrified of EVE, WALL-E becomes smitten and grows attached to her. Problems arise, however, when EVE sees a plant that WALL-E has been keeping alive in an old shoe. Upon seeing it, she takes the plant and shuts down. The ship comes back and takes EVE away, but WALL-E is so bound to protect his new love that he hops onboard. The adventure continues among the humans in space as WALL-E tries to save EVE, and EVE tries to do the same for WALL-E.

This movie is a remarkable achievement in several ways. First, and most impressively, is the fact that so much is communicated with such a small amount of dialogue. There are hardly any words spoken in the first half of the movie, and the two main characters barely say anything beyond each other's names. Non verbal communication has never been so prevalent in an animated picture. Ben Burtt, who perfected the audio for the character R2-D2 in the 'Star Wars' franchise, works his magic again here. His sound editing work should earn him an Oscar nomination.

Visually, this film may be the finest work yet by the creative geniuses at Pixar. The initial spaceship landing is so vivid that it makes you feel like you are there. All of the colors and moving parts create a wonderland for the eyes. WALL-E's fascination with the old musical 'Hello Dolly' is also a visual treat.

The two main characters in this film have so much heart and are very easy to root for. WALL-E develops a winning personality after being isolated for so many years. His relationship with EVE is sweet without crossing over into being sappy. This is a story that will connect with both adults and children.

The short film 'Presto', about a rabbit who just wants a carrot and the magician that keeps it from him, precedes 'WALL-E' and continues in the Pixar tradition of entertaining lead-ins.