Hey everyone. Caponein Chicago here.
My, oh, my. If this were a perfect world, you would be able to walk into the new Pixar/Disney animated splendor without ever having seen a frame of footage. I remember how thrilled I was to see something like five extended scenes from WALL-E at Butt Numb-a-Thon last December, but now that I've seen the entire finished film, I wish I'd never seen those clips. The more oblivious you are to what WALL-E is about, what it has to say about humanity, the earth and technology, the better. I was watching the "Ebert & Roeper" TV show last weekend, and I was stunned and disappointed that they were giving away key plot points about this little trash-compactor robot's adventure in space. It's not like the film has unexpected twists, but part of the job of discovering the film is witnessing what has become of humans after 700-800 years of not having to do a thing for themselves and having their bodies adjust to zero gravity. I don't care if Disney did supply the clips to go along with the discussion; these are elements that should be kept as secret as possible.
What's safe to say is the little Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class (WALL-E) is the last of his kind on an Earth that has been overrun with garbage. We see the corpses of other run-down robots like WALL-E all over the place, but our hero has been smart enough to fix any broken part of himself with parts of other robots. He's existed for hundreds of years making stacks of cubed garbage that rival in height and magnitude of the skyscrapers in the city where he lives. WALL-E is also a collector. Anything he finds curious, he throws into his chest plate and deposits in his makeshift "home." The first half-hour or so of the film is done without any conventional dialog, which doesn't mean that the film isn't communicating with us constantly. One of the many things on which WALL-E has become fixated is a worn-out VHS tape of Hello Dolly, in particular the image of two lovers holding hands. Without realizing it, WALL-E discovers there is something crucial missing in his life.
When a spacecraft lands on earth depositing a shiny, sleeker robot named EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), WALL-E's dormant emotions are set loose and suddenly all that lovey-dovey stuff he's seen in movies and heard in the film's songs means something to him. This robot courtship is one of the most romantic and humorous things you will ever see. It will warm your heart like few films in Disney's or anybody else's film libraries have done before. Director Andrew (FINDING NEMO) Stanton has done a mind-blowingly astonishing job making every nuance of WALL-E and EVE convey feeling even when they are incapable of changing their facial expressions.
When EVE stumbles upon something on Earth that could make a significant difference to human existence, she is whisked away back to space with WALL-E hot on her trail. To him there is no difference between Earth and space; all that matters is the connection he's formed with his lady friend. I don't want to discuss what WALL-E finds in space beyond a big-ass spaceship, but again credit to the filmmakers for pushing science fiction in a direction I've never seen it go before, especially not in a film that many young children will want to see. Even as a non-child, I was a little stunned at the direction the film takes. It's nothing disturbing (well, maybe a little) or gross or scary (well, maybe a little), but it is unexpected. I did like expanding the robots' world and watching WALL-E interact with strangers.
I could probably spend a couple of paragraphs citing other science fiction books and films that are similar to what WALL-E is going for in terms of tone and atmosphere. But to do so implies that Stanton & Co. have borrowed from other sources to make this film. That simply isn't the case. WALL-E is its own sentient being with its own set of wonders to discover and influence future sci-fi works, so to haul out references to Silent Running or 2001 is simply unfair. What might make a little more sense is comparing WALL-E to the best Chaplin and Keaton films. I suspect MODERN TIMES will be name dropped by people discussing this film, and that's perfectly understandable.
At its core, WALL-E is about the salvation of the human race (nothing heavy or anything, right?) and how this little, insignificant 'bot plays his part in doing just that. I haven't really discussed the animation, but it's the most realistic and beautiful Pixar has ever created. I'll have to see the film a couple more times to confirm my feelings on this, but I'm pretty certain this is my favorite Pixar film to date. The look of the film embodies every concept and design that I loved seeing in sci-fi films growing up. We do eventually get voices from human characters and some other sources. I particularly liked Sigourney Weaver's take on the ship's computer—part seductress (or maybe that's just her) and part cold machine. Jeff Garlin, Pixar mainstay John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy and a bizarre appearance by Fred Willard all add to the fun of WALL-E. I walked out of the theater after seeing this film in a kind of stunned silence.
Why could I not remember any other film I'd seen all summer? All year so far? Could this be the best film I see all year? With half the year gone at this point, this is my favorite movie so far. Prepare yourself for something deceptively simple, thought provoking and devastatingly marvelous. I've run out of great things to say about WALL-E; just go see it.
Capone
