Review of Wall-E

So, WALL-E. Not my usual cup of tea, Pixar movies. Mainly because it's physically impossible for them to make a bad one. Sure, Ratatouwhatever wasn't all that good, and the video-game tie ins are usually crap, but no matter what anyone says, little kids will still be drawn into them. There have been a couple exceptions to this rule (The Incredibles, Toy Story and so on), but most of them are kinda ehh. Thankfully Wall-E does not fall into the latter category.

This is the part where I talk about the plot to prevent me from actually doing any work or thinking. It's 700 years in the future, and Earth has become a desecrated wasteland with mountains of trash. A monopoly called BnL sponsors a trip into space for the rest of humanity while thousands of WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) units behind to clean up the mess. All of them have been disabled except for one, who has developed a personality and has an understanding of human emotions by watching Hello, Dolly! (No joke)

Soon the doldrum of his life is interrupted by a spaceship carrying EVE, a female robot whose job it is to find plant life on earth to determine if it is colonizeable again. WALL-E befriends her, and mistakenly shows her a plant he collected, causing her to follow her directive and capture the plant. WALL-E protects her for some time until the ship comes back to pick her up. He hitches a ride on the ship and arrives at the human space colony, Axiom. As WALL-E chases EVE across the city, it becomes aware that humankind has become extremely fat and lazy aboard the ship, having robots do everything for them, drinking meals and going everywhere on hoverchairs. All working jobs are done by robots.

EVE and WALL-E discover that there is a bigger conspiracy going on in the city, and it's up to them to save the day.

Going into the movie, I felt pretty good about the quality. It's Pixar, what more do you want? I didn't expect it to be a blockbuster, but a nice flic to hold me over until The Dark Knight comes out. Besides, what else is out now? The Incredible Hulk? Not worth it. Kung Fu Panda? Jack Black does not a movie make.

Thankfully, it's one of the better movies I've seen this year and one of the best Pixar movies. If you're a kid, you'll get a kick out of the funny moments such as when EVE gets caught in a magnet or when WALL-E accidentally crushes a cockroach, only to have it spring right back up. If you're an adult and worried about where society is going, like myself, you'll be able to look past the funny and see the serious undertones about our life.

The visuals in this movie are exceptional. Every time a spaceship blasts off or something explodes, you're seeing every single particle of shrapnel as it flies through the air. Pixar is just getting better and better, though there really wasn't any reason to do except with movies like The Incredibles. That actually needed to have some good animation in it.

I really liked the romantic turn this movie took, a bit of a side-step from most Pixar movies. It's like how The Incredibles actually showed a real family having real family issues with superpowers attached. EVE was a really cute character, and both she and WALL-E are really good together. A lot is spoken between them, even though not much is said. It's enough to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I was more interested in this romance than I would be in nearly any other live-action movie. Perhaps the reason for this was that it was believable. Not like the Incredible Hulk "omg, liek im gonna stop teh hulk from destroing teh city by kissing it" bull. Too over the top.

In all, WALL-E's a cute movie for a cute audience. It really kept me interested, as any Pixar movie will eventually do, and though I saw the dramatic turning point from a mile away (SPOILERS: the ship's autopilot looks like HAL 9000. That's about all I need to say.), it was still executed fairly well.

I give WALL-E a 9 out of 10. It's a Pixar movie that's actually really good. You should give it a shot, maybe you'll have a good time. It'll be better than Kung-Fu Panda, that's for sure.