quraji
zap
- Reaction score
- 144
9.5/10 (currently 9.3 on imdb.com)
Synopsis - Contains Spoilers: (from imdb.com)
What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL*E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL*E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL*E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets an adventure into motion. Joining WALL*E on his journey across the universe is a cast of characters including a pet cockroach and a heroic team of malfunctioning misfit robots.
Review:
This was a great movie, one of the better I've seen in a while. I was impressed with the animation, and really enjoyed the interaction between WALL·E and EVE. Although personally the story itself lost a bit of it's appeal after they were aboard the humans' ship (I was more interested on the interaction between the two robots), it was still engaging. Also, the music was great, as indicated by the fact that I barely noticed it when I wasn't explicitly listening for it, and yet it still helped shape the mood.
I found the blatant social commentary humorous. It couldn't be more clear than displaying the human race as extremely boated, lazy and simple. This degeneration of the human race is caused by endless pampering, the lack of necessity to do anything for themselves, and of course, mindless consumerism. (watch as the giant floating ad says something like "Hey, try the blue, it's the new red!", and everyone immediately orders the blue suit on their console). In the end it's actually the robots who teach these "people" to be human again.
Once again, it's a good movie, and definitely worth the watch, as I can easily see it being entertaining to all audiences (myself being a teenager).
I have to stress how amazing the animation is. Especially during the gritty and dirty beginning scenes, the visuals are spectacular. For me, seeing animation itself satisfied the ticket cost of the movie. If you're interested in animation like this, you'll appreciate this movie very much.
Other Stuff: (Warning - scattered spoilers!)
Here are some images that display the awesome graphic quality of the movie:
WALL·E looking at the stars
WALL·E on a bench holding hands with EVE (while she is inactive waiting for her ship)
WALL·E checking out a diamond ring (and throwing it away in favor of the box it came in)
WALL·E recharging his battery (used as a desktop)
I have to write a bit about the characters. WALL·E and EVE were captivating characters, and they developed very clear personalities, despite very limited speech and physical expression (like facial expression).
WALL·E
Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class
The beginning scenes showing WALL·E really depict him as a curious, self-stimulating sentient robot, with an added dimension - loneliness. While remaining faithful to his trash-compacting task, he defines himself as more than just a machine by collecting trinkets that he finds, and watching and mimicking old video tapes. The cockroach also comes in to play to further show WALL·E and his desire for someone else to interact with (a need unsatisfied by just a cockroach ).
Throughout, WALL·E is driven by his devotion to EVE. After she locks-down awaiting her ship's arrival, WALL·E watches over her day and night in attempts to take care of her/revive her. When the ship finally arrives, he latches himself on to the ship, not wanting to separate. On the human ship, he "rescues" her from the repair station, attempts to protect her, and takes on her mission as his own.
EVE
Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator
Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator
EVE immediately catches your attention by being a sleek, modern and stream-lined robot (helped by the fact her ship lands on WALL·E). While the following scenes displayed her carrying out her task, she seems to be explicitly drone-like, unlike WALL·E. But, this isn't totally true and she is shown to have some personality when, as the ship leaves sight, she temporarily abandons her work and takes a joy ride around the area. To me, EVE is the character that changed the most throughout the film, from the previously mentioned drone-like EVE to the caring, emotional EVE at the end.
One aspect of EVE I thought was important was her progression concerning her "directive". From the very beginning, her mission to locate, retrieve and protect any life was the most important. Even later in the film, her "directive" still drives her, even though WALL·E and her have developed some sort of relationship. This changes when WALL·E is damaged trying to protect the plant and EVE's "directive" loses importance in favor of preserving WALL·E. But, WALL·E being faithful and dutiful as he is, drags himself to the plant, not giving up (unclear to me whether this was from a sense of duty, or if he understood the importance of the plant to the humans).
Also, WALL·E's memory wipe, and EVE reviving him through holding his hand, is heart-warming, touching, etc.
The Captain
Captain of the Axiom
Captain of the Axiom
Lastly, the Captain. This character is important to the story, but personally I only found him mildly interesting. He's a classic case of an "awakening". Unlike most of the humans, he seems to be at least slightly aware of the boring and monotonous life they all lead, but he doesn't do much about it at first (he is after all, fat, lazy and simple like the rest of them). But, his interest is sparked by learning of Earth and the operation to reconstruct it, and he spends hours asking the computer about old Earth and it's culture, etc. Also, as the story progresses and he starts to fall in to the role of a true leader, like the early captains of the ship. In the end, he fights against the robots trying to stop the operation and leads the humans back to Earth to start reconstruction.
I'll be adding more later (more thoughts on the movie, and my personal response to...others' personal responses ).
P.S. - If you like this review thing, comment or rep so I know, I'll do more