Wall-E Review
Note! Make sure to look at the video FOLLOWING the trailer at the end of this post. It's cute!
Wall E, Pixar's 9th animated, full-length film for Disney, is an incredible demonstration of how far the fledgling animation company has come since their first film, Toy Story, back in 1995. Of course, it's easy to look at films as they come out now and shrug off the animated films with a comment like "so they used computers to make a film... big deal".
Frankly, it is a big deal. A lot of companies are starting to do full-length feature films using 3D packages these days, and we see products like Shrek, Monster's Inc, The Polar Express and Horton Hears a Who. But in the end, it's Pixar that has continuously set the bar to higher and higher levels with their film. It's rather funny, but in 80% of the films that Pixar does, the names of the voice actors is rarely mentioned in large print. Why? Because Pixar hasn't needed to use a name to sell it's movies, maybe aside from Toy Story. It's not to say you don't recognize the names or that they don't lend to the characters, but Pixar's films have always been about a story, with people helping to tell it... rather than about people trying to tell a story that really wouldn't be anything to tell otherwise.
And they keep coming up with new films... aside from Toy Story 2, there have been no sequels to any of the full-length Pixar films. Why? Because they can keep developing new stories that are fun and exciting and will appeal to a large number of people. Even for some detractors, the two lowest point movies from Pixar are probably sited as "Cars" and "Bug's Life". And even there, it was more a matter that people just weren't as interested in that one particular story due to it's generating point. Some people just aren't into NASCAR... so cars will be of little consequence to them. But did it stop it from being a good film? No. Did it stop it from being a success? No.
And Wall E is no exception. What it is, as usual, is exceptional.
Wall E is the story of Earth, love, and the ability to open our eyes again. Due to rampant consumerism, the largest corporation on the planet, Buy & Large, creates a heavily polluted environment, and sends all of humanity on what's supposed to be a 5 year intergalactic cruise (my boss sometimes needs to take those himself, so he's said). While everyone is going to be away, specialized robots, the Waste Allocation Load Lifer Earth class (WALL E for short) are supposed to work on restoring the environment of the planet. When we join our hero, we see a cute little robot, hard at work doing his job of cleaning by compacting and compressing the garbage to clear away areas so humanity can come back and continue the process. One robot to clean up a planet?! No! We start to see other WALL E robots stuck in the junk piles, and we're left with the very certain realization that something went wrong... and indeed it did.
WALL E, who has developed a personality in his time alone, has become quite lonely. He keeps a small cockroach as a pet, and collects all sorts of unusual knick-knacks he finds (a Rubix Cube, Lighter, Egg Beater, Trophy) and stores them in his home, one of the trucks that was used to transport the clean-up robots like him. We realize he is the only robot left functioning anywhere on the planet, and still is working on his task all alone. And as a result, he's become VERY lonely. He obsesses over a tape of Hello, Dolly. He is especially intrigued by the dance numbers and, most interestingly, scenes of two people holding hands.
Then, one day, while working, WALL E is caught in the landing blast of a space ship loaded with probes. The probe that is set out starts searching for signs of vegetation. After a short while and a few misunderstandings while WALL E tries to get close enough to introduce himself, she (yes, it has a feminine personality) asks for his name, which he pronounces with a digitally synthesized voice. She introduces herself as EVE (Extra-Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). While she is obviously there for classified purposes, she shows some signs of friendship to her lonely counterpart, and he quickly shows her his collection of odds and ends, hoping to ease her frustration about finding any vegetation. However, the last item he shows her is a living plant - a sign that life has begun to rebuild itself.
From there, the probe ship soon returns to take EVE back to the Axiom, the command ship of the human fleet, which has now actually been away from earth for MUCH longer than a 5 year period. WALL E tags along and a quest begins to bring humanity home, to finish truly rebuilding the earth... and for WALL E, a quest for the one thing he really wants - to hold EVE's hand. It was a touching story, all the more because it doesn't try to be sappy. It's moving and emotional in a way that many live action films never reach. And it's frankly amazing that an animated film about two objects who should be without personality or emotion can teach us about the importance of love, commitment, and true communication. It's a valuable reminder of how much we have to do as a culture to give up the very impersonal nature of communication with cell phones and instant messages, and start communicating face-to-face, and to learn to hold our hands out to each other.
The film is also a major step in the continued evolution of the technical side of animation, with new approaches taken into camera work, lens effects such as motion blur and focal effects.
The only real down side is that it does take a few minutes to really get moving. However, in the end, the story is wonderful, touching, and truly has the ability to be a classic long into the future for it's many positive, inspiring messages.
I give 4.5 out of 5 stars. The .5 is because of a new technique where they tried to use a bit of live footage in the film that I think drew away from the overall feel. Not that I begrudge Pixar for trying new techniques, I just think that it's unnecessary in this case and detracted a touch from an otherwise amazing film.
By all means, whether you have kids or not, SEE THIS FILM!
Wall E, Pixar's 9th animated, full-length film for Disney, is an incredible demonstration of how far the fledgling animation company has come since their first film, Toy Story, back in 1995. Of course, it's easy to look at films as they come out now and shrug off the animated films with a comment like "so they used computers to make a film... big deal".
Frankly, it is a big deal. A lot of companies are starting to do full-length feature films using 3D packages these days, and we see products like Shrek, Monster's Inc, The Polar Express and Horton Hears a Who. But in the end, it's Pixar that has continuously set the bar to higher and higher levels with their film. It's rather funny, but in 80% of the films that Pixar does, the names of the voice actors is rarely mentioned in large print. Why? Because Pixar hasn't needed to use a name to sell it's movies, maybe aside from Toy Story. It's not to say you don't recognize the names or that they don't lend to the characters, but Pixar's films have always been about a story, with people helping to tell it... rather than about people trying to tell a story that really wouldn't be anything to tell otherwise.
And they keep coming up with new films... aside from Toy Story 2, there have been no sequels to any of the full-length Pixar films. Why? Because they can keep developing new stories that are fun and exciting and will appeal to a large number of people. Even for some detractors, the two lowest point movies from Pixar are probably sited as "Cars" and "Bug's Life". And even there, it was more a matter that people just weren't as interested in that one particular story due to it's generating point. Some people just aren't into NASCAR... so cars will be of little consequence to them. But did it stop it from being a good film? No. Did it stop it from being a success? No.
And Wall E is no exception. What it is, as usual, is exceptional.
Wall E is the story of Earth, love, and the ability to open our eyes again. Due to rampant consumerism, the largest corporation on the planet, Buy & Large, creates a heavily polluted environment, and sends all of humanity on what's supposed to be a 5 year intergalactic cruise (my boss sometimes needs to take those himself, so he's said). While everyone is going to be away, specialized robots, the Waste Allocation Load Lifer Earth class (WALL E for short) are supposed to work on restoring the environment of the planet. When we join our hero, we see a cute little robot, hard at work doing his job of cleaning by compacting and compressing the garbage to clear away areas so humanity can come back and continue the process. One robot to clean up a planet?! No! We start to see other WALL E robots stuck in the junk piles, and we're left with the very certain realization that something went wrong... and indeed it did.
WALL E, who has developed a personality in his time alone, has become quite lonely. He keeps a small cockroach as a pet, and collects all sorts of unusual knick-knacks he finds (a Rubix Cube, Lighter, Egg Beater, Trophy) and stores them in his home, one of the trucks that was used to transport the clean-up robots like him. We realize he is the only robot left functioning anywhere on the planet, and still is working on his task all alone. And as a result, he's become VERY lonely. He obsesses over a tape of Hello, Dolly. He is especially intrigued by the dance numbers and, most interestingly, scenes of two people holding hands.
Then, one day, while working, WALL E is caught in the landing blast of a space ship loaded with probes. The probe that is set out starts searching for signs of vegetation. After a short while and a few misunderstandings while WALL E tries to get close enough to introduce himself, she (yes, it has a feminine personality) asks for his name, which he pronounces with a digitally synthesized voice. She introduces herself as EVE (Extra-Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator). While she is obviously there for classified purposes, she shows some signs of friendship to her lonely counterpart, and he quickly shows her his collection of odds and ends, hoping to ease her frustration about finding any vegetation. However, the last item he shows her is a living plant - a sign that life has begun to rebuild itself.
From there, the probe ship soon returns to take EVE back to the Axiom, the command ship of the human fleet, which has now actually been away from earth for MUCH longer than a 5 year period. WALL E tags along and a quest begins to bring humanity home, to finish truly rebuilding the earth... and for WALL E, a quest for the one thing he really wants - to hold EVE's hand. It was a touching story, all the more because it doesn't try to be sappy. It's moving and emotional in a way that many live action films never reach. And it's frankly amazing that an animated film about two objects who should be without personality or emotion can teach us about the importance of love, commitment, and true communication. It's a valuable reminder of how much we have to do as a culture to give up the very impersonal nature of communication with cell phones and instant messages, and start communicating face-to-face, and to learn to hold our hands out to each other.
The film is also a major step in the continued evolution of the technical side of animation, with new approaches taken into camera work, lens effects such as motion blur and focal effects.
The only real down side is that it does take a few minutes to really get moving. However, in the end, the story is wonderful, touching, and truly has the ability to be a classic long into the future for it's many positive, inspiring messages.
I give 4.5 out of 5 stars. The .5 is because of a new technique where they tried to use a bit of live footage in the film that I think drew away from the overall feel. Not that I begrudge Pixar for trying new techniques, I just think that it's unnecessary in this case and detracted a touch from an otherwise amazing film.
By all means, whether you have kids or not, SEE THIS FILM!
