From one of America's most creative and inventive studios comes a picture that is packed with intimacy and surprisingly adult themes.
Wall-E is a small, trash-compacting robot who has the task of clearing up a world covered in junk. Now on his own, he only has a cockroach for company and has become obsessed with a copy of the film Hello, Dolly! that he has found on a Betamax tape.
The first thirty minutes Wall-E is on his own, going about his job and picking up ‘treasures’ that he takes back to his home. This part of the film features lots of slapstick comedy but also really touches the heart as we see that Wall-E has developed a very strong personality and longs to be loved.
Into the flick comes a real force of nature, another robot EVE. Appearing from nowhere, this robot is sleek and heavily armed and our shy hero instantly becomes smitten. When this robot disappears Wall-E is devastated and tries to track it down.
On his adventure, Wall-E’s infectious personality encourages those he meets to break out of their conformist shells and actually explore and experience the world around them.
This is a truly remarkable film that says enormous amounts about what it means to be human and chastises its human characters for not caring enough, either about the planet or about experiencing life. It handles its themes well, never going too far by preaching at its audience.
Instead the film focuses on its story, a romance between the robotic odd couple. Wall-E’s courtship is endearingly awkward as he tries to tell EVE how he feels – no easy task given that neither character can really speak. It is one of the most pleasing film romances in years, perfectly capturing those feelings you had the first time you find yourself liking a girl.
Wall-E’s shyness and childlike innocence makes him a truly appealing lead character, Pixar’s most interesting to date, and I was rooting for him right to the end.
Less successful are some of the incidental robot characters he encounters in a defective robots centre. They serve little purpose other than to be wacky, colourful and possible merchandising tie-ins.
Animation fans may be disappointed at the lack of visual wonder in this picture compared to previous Pixar pictures. Certainly I was never amazed by the way the film looks in the way I was by the gorgeous Finding Nemo, yet the more subdued visuals allow the story and its themes to really shine.
There were long stretches of this film where it is possible to forget that this film is animated. Sequences look like they were shot with a camera and the result is a film that is more easily compared with its sci-fi or romance film influences than its animated stable mates.
Those influences can be seen in frame after frame in this film from Soylent Green to Blade Runner, from Star Wars to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fans of the science fiction genre will find that this film pays homage to many of the classics.
For those who are not sci-fi aficionados there is still plenty to enjoy here, from its silent movie influences to the touching love story at the heart of this film.
Wall-E and EVE work as a couple because they are robots who long to be something more than they were designed for. The film’s central message is that love is transformative and can bring out the best in us, making us want to be more than we are programmed to be.
This film is a joyous celebration of love, humanity and individualism. It is an original, interesting story that strikes a change of tone from Pixar and shows that despite producing nine pictures in thirteen years the studio is more creative than ever.