Wall-E Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 view all 106 reviews

LauraBelle
South Elgin, IL

Love Conquers All, Even Technology

Movie Reviewer, a storyteller, A Big Giant Sap, a believer of fate, mother of 2

Pros

True romance, Fantastic storyline, Great message

JUN

2008

Wall-E —

While we expected Wall-E to be a cute movie about a robot, it was so much more. We saw the trailer of the robot putting a bra on his head, playing paddle ball, and propelling himself with a fire extinguisher, but there was so much more to this animated film that. And most of the bits we saw actually happened in the first twenty minutes or so of the film. I'm not all that surprised to find that Wall-E had a not-so-hidden message on the dangers of too much technology, but I was surprised to see a romance that tugged at my heartstrings. At times I forgot I was watching animated robots.

It turns out that we never do get a handle on our garbage, and rather than do the dirty work of cleaning up ourselves, we send the population of the world out on a five year cruise through space, so that robots such as Wall-E can do the work. After 700 years, the world still isn't cleaned up, and Wall-E seems to be the only robot still working. He compacts the garbage into cubes and stacks them, creating even more skyscrapers. Just like the old joke, the only other being left is a cockroach.

In Wall-E's daily rounds, he picks up treasures that he finds amongst the garbage, such as a Rubik's cube, hubcap, and a lighter. He brings these back home to his unit where he recharges, and shows himself to have reasoning skills, as he can't decide whether to place the found plastic spork among the forks or spoons. He pops in a VHS tape of an old musical, and watching the two leads fall in love, holding hands, he examines his own metal claws. Just like the old myth, the cockroach crawls into a Twinkle that seems to be still spongey after these 700 years.

A different kind of robot lands near Wall-E's cleanup area one day, and he becomes enamored quickly. She seems to not have reasoning and feelings as he does, but is much more technologically advanced. Eventually he breaks through to her, and introducing himself, learns her name is Eve. She shows that she can at least show fear as she shoots and destroys the Don't Worry Be Happy fish hanging up on Wall-E's wall. Eve's been sent to find any hint at plant life, and finding some, she takes off to return it to the ships. Wall-E doesn't want to lose the closest thing he's had to a companion in all these years, other than his friend the cockroach.

It's back on that ship that we face the realities of life with too much technology. Our whole population turns into a bunch of slugs. They no longer walk, being carted around on floating chairs, and drinking all their food, which seems to be some type of protein drink. Everyone is overweight, and no one works, as the robots do all the work. While at first a life without work sounds great, it seems terrible to do nothing but sit in a chair all day.

Wall-E doesn't want any of the other robots on the ship that look just like her; he wants his Eve. Watching their romance play out, I couldn't believe I was getting drawn in by robots. They never even talked to each other much, other than repeating their names. Yet, we could see them fall in love. Normally we talk about seeing it in someone's else, but his look like something inside a tin can, and hers are nothing but lights.

In the end, Wall-E and Eve don't need any of the conventional things that we do to fall in love. They only need each other. They were built by technological advancements, but its that technology that threatens their happiness. It leaves us with the thought that too much technology can be a burden, and maybe all we really need in the end is just each other.

Wall-E is recommended by LauraBelle

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Comments about LauraBelle’s Review

Surely there was a McDonald's fry laying next to the Twinkie? I really want to see this. Thanks for the great review!!!

I had always wondered exactly how long a twinky could last ... do you think there will be a twinky defense that far in the future. Very good review, the kids have been enjoying the trailers on disney.com