Rated: G
Runtime: 1 hr, 37 mins
Cast:
- Ben Burtt
- Elissa Knight
- Jeff Garlin
- Fred Willard
- Macintalk
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Review - "WALL-E"
Reviewer: Charise Payne
Rating:
Disney and Pixar are infamous for great family entertainment, and usually, they always come through. This time, WALL-E fell short of the mark. It is a cute story, and the lesson they are trying to teach is admirable, but it just didn't work.
WALL-E is about a robot that was created to compact and organize all the trash on the earth left by the human race. After hundreds of years by himself, WALL-E, short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth, has developed a conscience. He has watched tons of old videos among the trash, and wants to find the love and acceptance he has seen on the small screen. As there are no humans on the earth because they destroyed it and made it uninhabitable, WALL-E is alone with his only friend — a roach. He is lonely, and just once, WALL-E would like to have the emotional bond that comes with finding a mate.
But as WALL-E never expects that to happen, he goes back to his duties of organizing the world's rubbish. WALL-E has one secret passion: he is a dump diver. He loves to find little things that he thinks are beautiful, and while he is out searching through the bins, he finds a plant growing inside a refrigerator. He thinks it is amazing, and so he brings it back to his home.
While out and about the next morning, WALL-E hears a noise. He looks up just in time to see a rocket ship practically land on his head. The ship releases a beautiful yet deadly white robot — WALL-E is instantly smitten. After much trial and tribulation, the courting dance begins, and WALL-E and his lady robot EVE begin to fall in love. WALL-E wants to impress EVE, so he gives her the plant, his most precious possession. What WALL-E doesn't know is that EVE was sent to find evidence that human life can be sustained on the planet again — evidence he has just given her. When she figures out what the gift is, her circuitry goes crazy with excitement, and she places the plant inside herself for safe keeping. EVE's homing beacon goes off, and she goes into hibernation, conserving all of her energy to keep the plant within safe.
The ship arrives, and WALL-E freaks out. This is his woman, and he is not giving her up without a fight. WALL-E figures out a way to stay with EVE and go to the mothership in space. Once he gets there, he discovers why EVE is so important, and what he must do to help EVE and the human race on the spacecraft.
While the film was good, I felt as though I was attending a rally for Green Peace, and that any second, Senator Obama was going to come out from behind the curtain with his acceptance speech for the Presidency. It bothered me that Pixar tried to teach me that big business is bad, that we are killing the earth, and that government is the root of all evil. After all, Pixar is a big business. But what bothered me the most was the idea that man would allow this to happen. The people that live on this planet are not trying to kill it, and I abhor that idea.
My other issue with the film is the lack of dialogue; four pages are not enough to carry a movie of this scale. You can only hear WALL-EEEEEE, EVEEEEE so many times before it drives you nuts. And why are the people on the ship cartoon, but the people in the videos human? It doesn't make sense.
Don't get me wrong, I did like this movie. It was cute, and the young ones loved it. But when I go to movie, it is to be entertained, not to be schooled in the save-the-planet ways, or to learn that if we don't change our ways, we are all going to become fat, lazy, and useless. This film is very liberal in its views, and conservatives will feel a little talked down to and disappointed. But if you don't have a problem with that, you will love it.
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