WALL-E REVIEW

“Wall-e”, the lovechild of Pixar is one of the best films I have seen this summer and perhaps one of the best ‘children’s film’ yet. Pixar, like former sibling studio Disney, always manages to release films that are suitable for the family- while their film targets children with their adorable characters and animation, their deeper message also reaches the older audience.

Pixar is no doubt the best animation film studio of today. The animation’s sleek and detailed and creates an impeccably rich portrait of what the world will be like in seven hundred years. From the scenery shots to the interaction between characters, the animation is both smooth and convincing. The graphics manage to convey most of the film’s plotline- there is actually almost no dialogue at all for the first half an hour of the film. Although it may alarm some filmgoers (“How can a cartoon without words be that interesting?”), director Andrew Stanton effectively conveys the setting and character depiction.





The plotline of the film revolves around an unlikely hero- a robot named WALL-E. Well, to be precise, he is last of the line of robots called WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), robots created to clean up trash on Earth while humans escaped to a space colony. Due to the human’s excessive consumption and environment destroying lifestyles, the Earth became unsuitable for human life. WALL-E is a quirky little fellow- although diligent in his work and happy collecting human gimmicks (like a recording of the song “"Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from the 1960’s musical Hello, Dolly!) that he plays over and over), he is a bit lonely. As the only surviving member of his robot line, his only companion is a cockroach that chirps. When WALL-E meets Eve, a feminine probe sent by the human colony Axiom to find signs of life, WALL-E believes himself to be in love. The antics that follow include WALL-E’s journey to space and aboard to Axiom in order to ‘rescue’ Eve.

WALL-E is unbelievably cute. It’ll make you coo, make you gasp, and even make the fainthearted teary-eyed towards the end. Most of all, it is one of those Funhouse mirrors found in carnivals, with a warped reflection of society. What will life for humans be like in seven hundred years if humans continue to lifestyle today? In WALL-E, Earth has become a barren wasteland due to negligence of humankind. Obesity has become commonplace for humans and humans have become so accustomed to communicating through their computer screens that they’ve forgotten how to interact with other humans. Although at a glance a whimsical and adorable cartoon about robots, WALL-E proves to be a thought-provoking and contemplative criticism on society.

Review: **** (out of 4)