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| Monday, December 1st
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| Movie Forums :: Reviews :: WALL·E |
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Posted on 6/30/08
WALL·E
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It's difficult to determine just how good WALL·E is. Is it impressive because it conveys emotions without words, or has it artificially restrained itself in doing so? Is it good, or is it merely cute? In a way, the answer to all these questions is "yes."
WALL·E is the story of a robot of the same name (which stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class). Mankind has effectively trashed earth and left on a giant cruise-style spaceship. The idea is that they'll float around space for five years while scads of robots like Wall·E clean up all the trash. After 700 years, humanity's still floating around in space and, as far as we can tell, Wall·E is the only robot still chugging along.
For some reason, Wall·E has developed a personality, and in addition to his trash duties has begun hoarding human artifacts he finds interesting. He's particularly interested in an old copy of Hello, Dolly! which he studies and imitates. But when he sees two characters holding hands, he realizes he has no one to mimic the scene with.
It's about this time that a probe ship lands on Earth, carrying a sleek probe droid named Eve that looks (probably not coincidentally) as if she were designed by Apple. She takes little notice of Wall·E, preferring to scour the planet for signs of life. When she finds one, a signal is sent back to the probe ship, which comes to pick her up, forcing Wall·E to either hitch a ride or resign himself to loneliness.
It is impossible to review WALL·E without heaping praise upon Pixar's technical achievements. Beginning with Luxo Jr., the now iconic short film about a playful desk lamp, Pixar's success has largely hinged on creating emotional connections between audiences and either animals or inanimate objects.
This time around, they've painted themselves into an even tougher corner than usual, because most of their main characters can't really talk. They have to express themselves with movements and a series of beeps. This challenge is fudged a little as they do get to say each other's names, albeit in an elongated, robotic fashion. It does little to diminish the impressive bond the audience experiences, though. It doesn't hurt that the main character is an insanely cute hopeless romantic with big, doe-y eyes, of course.
Still, looking back on the film I'm struck by how temporary the emotional connection was. As impressive as it is to make a human being feel something for a mute robot, the decision to do so wordlessly makes the connection a surface one. Wall·E and Eve can't express much in the way of complicated or nuanced feelings, so what we're left with is simply an extremely skillful, extremely pretty picture book story. Only one moment stands out as both truly touching and profound.
Nevertheless, the film is as charming as anything Pixar has ever done, and the premise gives them a chance to showcase a series of interesting textures (rust has never looked so beautiful). It has been remarked that WALL·E is the most gorgeous Pixar film yet, and this is true, though only because they've succeeded in making things look real enough that we don't notice them at all.
It is worth noting that, at least to this reviewer's memory, actual human beings (as opposed to CGI-produced human beings) have never appeared in a Pixar film before. WALL·E breaks this embargo with help from actor Fred Willard, who plays the CEO of Buy 'n Large, a fictional corporation that seems to own everything. The Buy 'n Large logo pops up everywhere, and there are some not-so-subtle jabs at consumerism and even the potential pitfalls of human ingenuity. Some of the points are well-taken, but it's surprising that a film which trusts its audience to interpret its main characters would fail to exercise the same restraint with its morals. It drives its points home with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, making for a striking contrast with the elegance it displays over the rest of its 103-minute runtime.
Blaise Pascal, a French philosopher, once wrote that he "made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short." The implication is that simplicity itself is a kind of art, and if nothing else, WALL·E is certainly a masterpiece of simplicity. The core of the story is so clear and accessible that it figures to easily translate across time and culture. Whatever it may lack in depth, it figures to make up in breadth.
NOTE: I must also mention the short before the feature attraction. These have become a lovely staple of Pixar's films, and they've nearly outdone themselves this time with Presto, the story of a magician, his rabbit, and a magic hat. The short is energetic, uproariously funny, and is the best of its kind since 2000's For the Birds.
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