Viewed in
2008 (4), 2009
Premise
WALL-E is a cleanup robot, left on a deserted Earth. One day he befriends a new robot, EVE, and embarks on a journey he did not expect.
Who should watch
Everyone.
Thoughts
This was one of those films that I loved so much that I felt like anything I said about it would be a spoiler.
The great animators of Pixar have created numerous cute and memorable characters. But from the first moment I saw WALL-E, I found him absolutely adorable. By the end of the fantastic journey, I wanted to adopt him. All the minor characters were likeable as well. I especially liked the effort into giving the human characters an arc of their own. While WALL-E was instantly lovable, upon multiple viewings, M-O is also quite awesome.
Pixar always put story as the highest priority, and this was no exception. I admired the risk-taking of not spelling every scene out. The first act was my favorite part, as it followed the footsteps of 'Castaway' and 'I Am Legend'. A part of me wished that that was the entire film: just a robot on a planet, alone.
As the mystery of EVE and the humans unravel, Wall-E plunges into a deep and complicated universe. At the same time, I was plunged into a deep and complicated themes about technology, environment, consumerism, laziness and love.
Please note that I have yet to talk about the animation. Even if the film makers did not break any new ground (such as hair in 'Monsters Inc'), it goes without saying that every scene was beautiful and wonderfully detailed. The scene that caught my eye the most was a close up of WALL-E, in which every scratch and dent from his 700 years of duties are visible.
This is my favorite Pixar film to date.
What I would change
I am really nit-picking here, but there were times when WALL-E and EVE behaved like typical anime caricatures: the shy, bespectacled male falling for the superhuman, short-tempered female.
