Pixar’s 2008 Wall-E is
set in the distant future; at a time when the human race has left Earth due to
an unmanageable build up of waste. While humanity has grown fat and lazy aboard
giant space craft the last remaining Wall-E robot is busy on Earth trying to
clean up the mess. Wall-E is dedicated but naïve. He takes pride in his work
but also has a collection of interesting objects and a passion for the 1969
film Hello Dolly! That film makes him
long for company. That company arrives unexpectedly one day in the form of EVE.
EVE is a robot sent to earth to search for plant life, something that Wall-E
has recently found on the otherwise desolate planet. Wall-E falls instantly in
love with EVE and follows her into deep space in an adventure which will impact
both them and the remainder of the human race.
I’ll say straight away that I love this film. It is probably
my favourite Pixar film which puts it pretty high up my all time list. The
animation is extraordinary. In my opinion it is up there with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for
the best looking computer animated film ever. The thing that stands out most is
the way the film uses focus to such great effect. Backgrounds have the look of
being in the background and it gives the film great depth of field. The focus
also shifts from the foreground to background to give the film an incredibly
realistic feel. This realism is heightened as live action is occasionally
dropped in. The characters themselves are beautifully designed and animated. Wall-E
looks exactly as you’d expect a trash compacting robot to look and has some
lovely little details on him. He even has little scratches which look great.
EVE looks much more futuristic than Wall-E but has a beautiful design. The man
behind the design of the iPad, iPod and iPhone was consulted on her design and
she looks as sleek and stylish as Apple’s products (though her battery lasts
longer).
As neither Wall-E nor EVE really speaks much, the animators
had to make sure they were able to give their characters expression through the
use of body language. They well and truly succeeded with this task and both
characters have great expression. Both characters use their eyes and the
position of their bodies is very important. At no time was I in any doubt as to
what the emotion was that a character was trying to convey and their
personalities shone through, despite their lack of dialogue. I read that Wall-E
was modelled partly on Buster Keaton who despite his stoic and expressionless
face could convey great emotion in the silent era. You can see a lot of Keaton
(one of my all time favourite film makers) in Wall-E.
The story has two main strands. The first is a sweet and
timeless love story which is very charming. The second part of the story turns
the camera on the audience and looks at the lifestyle of the West in the early
part of the 21st century. It shows us a glimpse as to where we could
be heading. There is only one giant corporation and people have become
completely reliant on technology. They have also become so fat and lazy that
they can no longer walk. The idea that we don’t appreciate what is around us is
also hinted at. These themes fall into line with a lot of the messages from
modern day ‘family films’ and can be considered a warning to us all. As well as
the traditional Hollywood
The whole film is incredibly sweet. It is lovely that all
Wall-E wants from EVE is to hold her hand and it is touching to watch him
attempt to do so. It almost bought a tear to my eye the first time I watched as
Wall-E protected EVE from a storm while on Earth and the scene in which the two
dance in space is one of the most magical I’ve seen. As well as being a lovely
part of the story, it is also the best animated part and at times one of the
funniest.
Wall-E is not the funniest of Pixar’s films but still has
its funny moments. The character of a robot that follows Wall-E around,
cleaning his track marks is very funny and with all Pixar films there are funny
lines and incidents dotted throughout. The addition of the broken robots also
created some laughs. It might not be Pixar’s funniest but I think that, with
the possible exception of Toy Story 3 it
is their most emotional and most endearing film to date. Your heart aches when
Wall-E thinks he has lost EVE and again when the opposite is believed to be the
case. It is testament to the strength of those two character’s love for one
another that the fate of humanity plays second fiddle to their story. Wall-E is an absolutely fantastic film
which is too good to be just considered as a children’s film. I believe that an
adult would get more out of it than a child. It is touching, funny and sweet. And
I love it.
10/10
