Frustrated rock chick, I console myself with reviews of books and films as well as music.
Frustrated rock chick, I console myself with reviews of books and films as well as music.
Member since:24.08.2007
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One of the homework activities suggested by my son's school as part of their 'Space' topic, was a review of a film set in space, such as WALL-E. In solidarity, I have decided to write a review of the same film.
WALL-E is the most recent film from the Disney Pixar studio, the computer animation wizards who gave us Finding Nemo, Cars and Ratatouille, all of which our family have thoroughly enjoyed. The film was released in 2008 to critical acclaim and the DVD was released in time for Christmas - my sons got a copy as a gift.
The film is set in a world abandoned by humans because 'trash' has taken over. The WALL-E bots were designed to clear up the earth's surface, whilst humans took off in huge cruise liner style space ships. Something has gone wrong, though, as there is now only one WALL-E robot (maybe some one missed him when they turned the others off) left doggedly working away on his own amongst mountains of rubbish and sky scrapers of 'garbage cubes'.
WALL-E is very resourceful - he fixes himself from parts he salvages from other defunct WALL-E bots, he recharges his battery through solar power, he has found himself a container in which to live and to shelter from the wind storms that ravage the abandoned earth. There is no telling how long he has been here endlessly doing the job for which he was created. He is very lonely.
Until one day a space ship lands. A robot is deposited and then the ship disappears. The robot is sleek and white, all smooth curves
and hovering above the ground - such a contrast to WALL-E's dirty, clunky boxy shape and caterpillar tracks. At last WALL-E has some one to share his days with and he soon falls in love with 'Eve'. When the ship returns to collect her, WALL-E suspects she is in trouble and follows.
And so the adventure really begins. Any more of the story and I'll spoil it for you.
The reviews when it came out said that WALL-E was a brave film, given that it is aimed at children. There is very little dialogue in the film - indeed, almost the first half of it is entirely WALL-E alone, or WALL-E with Eve, neither of whom can talk beyond saying their own and each others' names. The plot really takes off around half way through. It is testimony to the imaginations and the creativity and artistry of the makers that this part of the film is so atmospheric, funny and touching.
The vision of earth completely covered in heaps of rubbish, with what looks like a city skyline, but turns out to be neatly stacked towers of 'garbage cubes', is quite chilling. The lack of human life, or indeed any form of life, is haunting. Set to a soundtrack of the optimistic 'Out There' (from Hello Dolly), the irony is obvious and effective.
WALL-E is a truly lovable creature. With is large camera like eyes and his squat body, he reminded me a lot of ET (what a superb film that is - must review that soon!). The animation is so clever, managing with simply a droop of his eyes as he watches his film of a dance routine to relay the longing and melancholy of this lonely little robot. We feel his affection for Eve, even though he is a robot and should by definition be devoid of emotion.
There is humour, despite the loneliness of the protagonist and the desolation of his environment. For example, when sorting through the rubbish he comes across a small box. He is interested in this and opens it to find a diamond ring inside. What a find, you think, a jewel amongst all this dust and dirt, but WALL-E discards the ring and pockets the box.
Once he's off on his adventure following Eve up into space, the pace and the excitement increases. Now you in a more traditional Disney film with chases and crashes and explosions. And yet all this is set amongst the chilling vision of life on board the super-cruise space ship. The people travel round on armchairs that hover above the ground - there is no longer any need to walk and after generations of this life the human form has become mutated, with smaller bones, and more fat. The people look like Weebles (remember them?). They talk to each other via computer screens that hover like holograms in front of their faces, robots deliver liquidised meals to their hover chairs, there is no longer any vestige of what makes being human bearable, but they are unquestioning, blind to what they have become.
WALL-E really is a superb family film. It appeals to children because of the humour, the characters and the adventures. It appeals to adults for the same reasons, but also because of the message, which may not be subtle, but is at least not patronising. If you take progress over the last 50 years say and extrapolate it out you could easily reach the same conclusions as the film makers. My faith in human nature tells me that common sense will kick in before we reach this point, and if it doesn't, at least I won't be around to witness it!!
I thoroughly recommend this film to any one, young or old. It is touching, funny, entertaining and thoughtful. Families who buy the DVD could get watch after watch out of it, ours has already!
Bonus Material on the DVD and Other Practicalities ======================================= We have a 2 Disc Special Edition, thoughtfully in a card case rather than plastic, appropriate to the subject matter of the film. It is jam packed with extras, some of them really good quality.
In particular, there are two a Disney Pixar shorts,
BURN-E is written by Andrew Stanton who also wrote and directed WALL-E (and Finding Nemo), called BURN-E, which takes one of the characters from the main film and tells a brief and highly amusing, Mr Bean style story. My kids love this!
Presto is about a magician and his white rabbit, who is hungry and won't co-operate until he's fed. This is old school Tom and Jerry style cartoon humour.
There is also an interesting brief documentary on the use of sound in the film - given that there is very little dialogue, the beeps and other noises that the robots make become all the more important.
There are lots of other bonus features, including deleted scenes, a the making of feature and a documentary about the Pixar Story.
Amazon are selling the 2 Disc Special Edition at £12.98 at the moment. No doubt the price will come down in time, but given the quality of the film and the amount of bonus material on it, this doesn't seem an unreasonable price. This is up on our shelf along with classics like ET and Star Wars and I'm sure it will get watched repeatedly over the years.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
I'm sorry for the H, but for this to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in the same detail as your review of the film, not just a passing mention of them.
treesaregreenandtall 22.03.2009 13:12
Wow I was sceptical about this film but after reading your review I might go and watch it!
clownfoot 24.02.2009 10:03
A case of if anyone really fails to enjoy WALL-E then they must have no soul!
exceptional by (7%):
very helpful by (91%):
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