Directed by: Andrew Stanton
Review Written By: Joey D
With every new computer generated creation that eminates from the Pixar Studios in California, comes a new character to love and a new story to adore. Toy Story gave life to what would be considered as inanimate objects to even the most playful adult while Ratatouille made appealing characters out of the most common form of vermin.
Well guess what people, those masterminds of animated cinema have done it again but this time, creating their most loveable and beautiful creature to date.
Meet Wall-E, a clean-up robot who's sole purpose is to clear the garbage that human beings have left behind on earth, turn it into cubes and stack the final product. Despite being the only remaining fully-functional Wall-E robot left, he makes the most of his time by collecting everyday items left behind by the evacuated inhabitants ranging from a rubiks cube to a bra. But nothing spares him from the loneliness he feels until he is greeted by EVE, a droid sent to Earth to collect information on it's status and report on any signs of life. The two quickly become inseparable but on finding a small plant amongst Wall-E's collection, EVE's system forces her to return to the ship she came to Earth on in order to bring back her findings...but Wall-E is not letting her go alone!
The film is a triumph for many reasons but Wall-E's first act is truly a remarkable spectacle. The word spectacle is used as it is an aesthetic pleasure rather than that of sound due to the absence of any dialogue other than Wall-E's R2D2-esque beeps. In an unintentional nod to Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the scarcity of speech goes completely unnoticed as Wall-E has enough facial expressions and mannerisms to tell the audience what he wants to say and how he is feeling at the time. Also, dialogue would be wasted as the scenery depicted in Wall-E's Earth is horrifically decilate but at the same time, truly stunning.
The second act of the film is where the real plot begins, a plot that involves lazy humans hooked on consumerism, the desire to return to what was once a beautiful planet, an evil automated space-pilot and of course, the blossoming romance between Wall-E and EVE. From the outset, the audience is led to believe that the movie's core message is to save the environment and strive for a greener earth yet by the eightieth minute, it becomes apparent that the real moral is something more present and noticable than an ever-expanding hole in the O-Zone layer. The human characters present in the film are lazy, obese zombies that are completely oblivious to their surroundings as they are completely obsessed with products and routine. They are told by the spaceship when to eat, what to eat and how to dress yet doing all of the aforemented things without having to chew a single morsal or unbutton a single shirt. Is this really what consumer culture is doing to us and would humanity stand a chance as the superstores and conglomerates start to dictate our daily routines?
Although despite the harsh realisation inflicted into the audience by what could possibly be the future of mankind, the dark message is not rubbed in your face. Andrew Stanton makes sure that despite the bleak nature of Wall-E's underlying message, it really is just an adorable love story between two cute little robots!
This is without two shadows of a doubt, the best Pixar effort to date in both animation and story. Stanton has made it abundantly clear that he is the daddy of the Pixar directors and he has set an enormously high benchmark with this latest installment by using elements from all of the previous Pixar success stories. The originality of Toy Story, the humour of Monsters Inc, the sweetness and beauty of Finding Nemo, the action of The Incredibles and the creation of an adorable character from an unlikely source such as Remi the rat from Ratatouille.
If Wall-E does not make your heart melt and your hands uncontrollably clap as the credits roll...then you might be more robot than any of the characters portrayed in this absolute classic.
Best film you will see this year GUARENTEED!
MOVIE MAESTRO RATING:
