Movie Review: WALL·E
Published July 19, 2008
I won’t go into specifics of how we go from earth to space but once we’re there the film takes on a whole other life. Some would say the charm we have gotten from the introductory section is somewhat lost once we get to this space colony and get in amongst the humans and I could say that’s a fair argument. However for me it added a much needed element to the film – interaction. Since all WALL·E and Eve say to each other is, well, WALL·E and Eve (in their own distinctive voices) I think the addition of some human interaction and dialogue takes the film to a more purely enjoyable level. You move from being simply in awe of the visuals and charmed by the title character to being enjoyably overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of this human space colony.
The film does slightly get lost in itself with a quite unnecessary subplot involving the robots on board the ship but it’s not enough to weigh it down by a noticeable amount. Even when you feel the story might not fully have you in its grasp you can still fall back on the technical animation and just begin again to be awe inspired by what you see on screen.
The film has an obvious ecological message but it doesn’t allow that to get in the way of anything else. It simply acts as a catalyst for events, and if you choose to you can look at it from the eco-friendly side of things, but never really hits you over the head with it or points the finger. It also has some references to other space-oriented films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien, which should have a lot of the adults in the audience smiling from ear to ear. It’s another example of Pixar having aspects for both kids and adults to take in and appreciate without either of them feeling cheated or left out.
WALL·E works as many things: a flawless example of technical animation, a charming love story, a limitlessly enjoyable adventure film, and a more than decent sci-fi story, amongst many others. It represents arguably Pixar’s greatest achievement since they had the word "toy" in the title and is undoubtedly one of 2008’s best films so far.
- Movie Review: WALL·E
- Published: July 19, 2008
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Family, Video: Comedy, Video: Animation, Video: Adventure, Video: Romantic
- Writer: Ross Miller
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Comments on this articleComments
You said that "as narratives I find a few of them overrated". Can you specify which ones are overrated and why? I too think that some Pixar films are somewhat weak as narratives.
@Al Barger,
wow. First off it's good to see someone as enthusiastic and passionate about films as you seem to be, whether it's positive OR negative. Like anything in film it's all subjective - you may have found that Wall E beat you over the head with the message and were unable to see past that but I wasn't. I SAW that they were portraying the message but didn't feel like it took spotlight over anything else (quite the opposite actually).
@Peter,
well the Pixr film I find most overrated (and I haven't seen them all, well not Finding Nemo and Cars) is The Incredibles. To me that went against what I love about them as filmmakers - usually they make films about inanimate objects or fantasized creatures interacting ie. toys, fish, cars, monsters etc but with The Incredibles it was about humans and it just didn't sit with me right. I also find Monsters Inc and Rataouille to be overrated, the former because it seems to rest on the cute factor a litle too much (especially with the little girl character) and the latter because although I really, really liked it I just don't see why it's SO amazing.
WALL - E is the first Pixar film (like I said) since Toy Story where I was in complete AWE.
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To a substantial extent, this WALL-E movie sucks ass. It's ugly to look at. The Earth is an ugly trash dump, nothing more. You could probably study it frame by frame and find lots of careful details - of ugly trashiness. It is SO not a great classic of animation that people will want to watch again and again. YUCK.
Brother Miller seems to have watched a different movie than me to be able to say that WALL-E does not hit you over the head with the environmental message. I'm not sure how they could possibly have hit viewers any harder than they did with this apocalyptic nonsense.
Nonetheless, it might well get an Oscar for Best Picture - but that would absolutely be as a cheap political statement, because the Hollywood wingnuts approve of the environmental hysteria. It will certainly NOT be because of beautiful animation. Expensive and detailed, but not particularly imaginative - and certainly not beautiful or delightful to the eyes. Nor, of course, will it be for the dialogue.
The robots were predictably cute and lovable, but pretty much everything else about this movie is unappetizing and worse.