It’s almost like TDK has become a ‘rite of passage’ and that you’re somehow ‘weird’ if you haven’t seen it. Like you, I too have no desire to see it again.
As for WALL-E - I have a feeling that when the DVD is out it’s going to get a lot of replays! 
I can understand people not LOVING the film, but I have yet to find a truly negative review that doesn’t sound whiny.
Some people just don’t like this genre of movies. Other than that, they are fat and got offended when they watched it, or found the movie too depressing; when they really don’t want to think about real life issues this movie contains. Or some religious nut jobs think we’re making a sin for elating robots to the human level.
All I had to do was read the second post and I’m tick. 
Just kidding, but c’mon - I’m a big romance guy (as hard as it is for most of you to believe…), I dig romance films. But WALL-E? It’s just too predictable, but that’s because it’s Pixar, and as we all know, all Pixar films have one weakness, and that is that they are affiliated with Disney. And in Disney tradition, what’s the code, ladies and gents?!
Background audience: “To live happily ever after… yawn!”
That’s right, yawn!
C’mon, let’s be realistic here. Fantasy, it’s all good when taken in portions, but overdose is just intoxicating. We are drowning here. WALL-E is a good movie, I’ll put it at that. It’s just, not a good-good movie, as in like those sort of movies that deserve a five star blockbuster rating.
Spider-Man, Transformers, Jurassic Park, Flags of Our Fathers, The Good Shepherd, Iron Man, Die Hard, all these titles are legends and have an excellent quality of bringing audience that pack of punch. They made us cry, they made us cheer. And we all darn know that someone’s gonna have to die because in the real world, no one’s invincible. We lose our memories, we don’t get it back because some hot chick kissed us goodnight or give us a good one nighter. 
We get it through long terms of attempts trying to recollect those memories - not boom and EVE goes “WALL-E! YOU GOT YOUR MEMO BACK!”
No.
It just lacks that sort of realism, but fortunately, Pixar was able to deliver that same sort of awesomeness even when kept under a fantasy aspect.
Take Finding Nemo, for example. Even though we darn know that Nemo survived, Pixar managed to create a tearful effect with Marlin’s scene together with Dory. The atmosphere was grim, we were able to relate to a father relating to the death of his child. It’s very sad, and very relatable. Futuristic robots having a love story together - that’s a little hard.
Okay, let’s just say that we put the all so legendary ‘message’ you all claimed to be hidden in the film into perspective. Let’s just say that there is a message we could relate to and let’s try and relate to it. Okay, a message, lemme think of one…
Wow, this is harder than I didn’t expected.
Anyway, while I’m thinking, lemme bring up another great example of a Pixar success. Monsters, Inc.
Mike Wazowski, played by the all so talented Billy Crystal, is darn funny, not only because his voice actor is funny, but his whole very aspect (his lines, his tiny horns, his sleek persona) is hilarious and it knock our socks off. Not only that, but once again, Pixar brought tears to our eyes (even though this film is made before FN). The Sulley scene with Boo was just tragic. We were able to relate to that because in the end, Sulley did have to leave Boo even though he’s such a darn good friend of hers and the writers just had to take him away from Boo in an inhumane, cruel manner (joke). She opened her door, and he was gone. Did she try and open the door several times again? Maybe. But if she did, did Sulley suddenly appear there just because she got all sad and teary?
Audience?
NO, NO, N-O, NO!
That’s right, he didn’t.
In short, the ending to WALL-E is too cliche, and it really disappoints. But as I’ve said before in my criticizing review towards the film, they had tried their best. Being a Disney film, they had no choice. They almost got me with there, so it was a good effort, but just because someone’s incapable of doing a good job, doesn’t mean he deserve the credit.
Sorry, WALL-E fans.
Oh, and I still can’t think of that message.
WBoon: What makes WALL-E so great is the emotion, the character development, the eye-opening messages. Not just in the environment, but what makes WALL-E different is that unlike the usual romance film, it removes the normal transition from “like” to “love”. No, since WALL-E is such a unique character, the movie is about him trying to win EVE who doesn’t have the emotional capacity for love. When have you seen THAT before?
Wall-E is my favorite movie ever! I’ve been counting down the days to the DVD release. The only person in my family who’s excited for Wall-E is my little sister. Everyone else thinks I’m weird, and I don’t get it. I have to agree that many of them don’t like it because it’s an animated movie, but this is a very different movie. On Yahoo! movies, Wall-E got an A- from both critics and users. I’ve never seen a movie with higher ratings.
Oh, let’s see. Vesper from Casino Royale; she almost had no essence of love in the first place. Then there’s Camile from the latest bond flick, Quantum of Solace. Her parents died in a horrible murder (and rape) case, and she was filled with only the essence of vengeance in the first place - no love, just ‘going to bed’ with men to get to her goals, something like a female Bond, if you will.
Now, if you are to relate EVE to a normal person, I’d pretty much say EVE was just merely touched by WALL-E aiding her throughout her dire moments; something Bond did for both Vesper and Camile, not to mention the hundreds of other equally deep characters with emotions much more real than… say, a junk yard robot.
Also, lemme add that this movie might appeal the majority, but that could still possibly occur in terms of biasness rather than neutral criticism, as the critics of The Dark Knight had shown in contrast (here on Pixar Planet forums anyway, don’t really know the reason why you people wouldn’t give the film a break, but you don’t see me posting a thread about it).
WBoon- On the one hand, I really want to mention that all of the films you mentioned in contrast to WALL-E are films that I, personally, wouldn’t take my six-year-old to see (if I had one 
), and that the reason WALL-E had a cliche ending is the reason why most, if not all Disney and Pixar films have a cliche ending- because, at the end of the day, little kids as well as adults are going to be watching it.
On the other hand, I totally respect that you perhaps didn’t enjoy the film as much as Pixar’s other outings, especially when you don’t get the ‘feel’ for a film. For example, I was very excited about Ratatouille before it came out, but when I saw it, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I would. In comparison to other non-Pixar films, it’s brilliant but, for me, it’s not as good as their other films. I don’t know why, but I think it’s partially to do with the ‘feel’ of the film as well as my dislike for Remy (a character which many others love). That’s just the way it goes, sometimes.
Haven’t seen them.
But still, two movies doesn’t make it a clique (I know, I know, I can’t spell). And they aren’t really the same concept. WALL-E is a about a soul that is in love with someone who CAN NOT love him back, but he just keeps on chasing her anyway. From what I do know of Bond, it’s not like that.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Have you SEEN any of the avatars around? I think I’ve seen more Joker references than any other character in any other movie. I know some people don’t like it, but that’s no reason to say that this forum is anti-Dark Knight.
And I think that is wasn’t a serious thread, it was more playful than really asking “what is wrong with these people?”
Hello? Are you listening to yourself or at least, reading your post as you type? It’s called ‘hard-to-get’ in real life. Ever got into a relationship before? Seriously… That’s SUCH a cliche. I’ve seen so much of those examples of films before (I just couldn’t remember a lot of those films myself…).
Okay, so say that you’re trying to claim that EVE is incapable of loving WALL-E, and thus, that would be a ‘different’ genre of romance, but that is seriously just reading too much into it.
EVE is a robot, which should be considered NOT to have any feelings, but since she already displayed her capabilities in expressing feelings before she even fell head over heels, before WALL-E even aided her in any manner, that proved that she is capable of having feelings and thus, she IS just like any ordinary human when put in comparison, playing hard-to-get.
It’s no difference. The only difference is that she has no interest in love because she was not programmed to love, so she doesn’t know what love is till her feelings got onto her; something I’ve seen in The Island, a film with a much more mature concept, but the idea is the same.
Avatars. That only meant that people are fascinated by the film. They like it; just don’t think it’s any good. WALL-E, on the other hand, kinda got more credits than it should have.
And I don’t really see how we feel about other people’s opinions towards this is related to the judgment of the film’s quality… I mean, we are all merely just expressing our opinions. How you Americans would say, ‘the freedom of speech,’ right?
Oh, and the starter of this thread seems to present more of this ‘seriousness’ you refer to than I ever did. Everyone has the right to love something and to hate it; no real need to go, “Oh, I’m trying to understand why you guys just won’t love that cute little junk-bot!” 
He’s saying like it’s wrong for us not to like the guy (WALL-E), like WALL-E’s messiah or something.
Well, WALL-E is a PIXAR MOVIE, and it is a PIXAR FORUM.
But seriously dude, where have you been? 
I have seen three Dark Knight threads AT LEAST. Trust me, there are more people talking about how great it is then how it’s not that good. There are less now, I guess, since the movie has been out for a while, but still.
To put under another term, ‘biasness.’
Maybe I have put my point under a dim light. See, what I was trying to say is that WALL-E was smothered with extreme compliments, with reviewers of Pixar using terms such as ‘genius’ or ‘masterpiece’ (not exact terms, I know, but you get the idea). It just seems to me that with all biasness put aside (which they normally do, so my comment above is redundant), they would still shower the film with such comments.
Now, people like me (or at least, I alone ), are trying to put a sort of balance in between, so that people would know that this is a good film, but like many reviewers of The Dark Knight said, it’s not perfect. It’s not a genius masterpiece bestowed upon by the hammer of Asgard (XD).
So, yeah. I like the film, but I love good movies being credited for what they deserve even more.
Well, given our Pixar obsession, yes I would say we are a bit biased (;
Though I agree that I wouldn’t call WALL-E “genius” or “masterpiece” it is really, really good. “Genius” and “masterpiece” are what I call things that effect the way we live our lives, think of ourselves, society, and life itself. So you can say I don’t consider many things those.
I love WALL•E, and even though I understand that it may not be someone’s cup of tea, when someone says “Yeah, it was ok…” or “It wasn’t THAT great” I’m like “WJGNSWQ How can you say that!!!” I just find it hard to believe that they couldn’t like at least some aspect of the movie. Others just can’t buy into the whole “animation thing” (I’m looking at you, Margaret from At the Movies) or even into robots, because it reminds them of the eventual robot sentience. But come on! That opening sequence would have to be one of the best in film, ever, you gotta give it that. And the first third of the movie is just brilliant: scary, haunting, too close to home.
But there are movies, TV shows, books that you either get or you don’t. It’s just a matter of taste.
Funny. 'Cause WALL•E ticks all of those boxes for me.
At the technical level, WALL-E is indeed a masterpiece. By the “traditional” measures of film criticism, it is nearly flawless. In particular, the screenplay is so good that little dialogue is needed, the sound design and score instantly flesh out mute characters and set the mood, and the art direction and sets are top-notch. The cinematography and film editing are excellent but unexciting. Judged by the standards of animation, this movie is indeed genius. Animating non-human characters with so few degrees of motion so well that they can carry a love story is nothing short of the pinnacle of the animator’s art. The CG is also technically brilliant, particularly all shots on earth with “natural” lighting. It is not Citizen Kane or Battleship Potemkin (the ultimate films technically), but it is close.
Whether the theme, plot and characters “work” is a very personal thing. I find it actually a good sign that WALL-E provokes such extreme reactions, good and bad. Something that produces mild, pleasant reactions from everyone is merely entertainment. WALL-E is art. Art must provoke. Years from now, people will still ask if you cried at the end of WALL-E, whether AUTO and BnL were evil or simply miguided, or what you thought of its portrayal of mankind. For that matter, they will also ask if you thought the Joker in The Dark Knight was right about humanity, and whether Batman was justified in his actions to stop him. No one will ask you anything about Iron Man or Hellboy II except if you thought they were cool. Not much about Kung Fu Panda either, rounding out this summer’s better movies. That’s the difference between art and entertainment.
People will indeed write theses about WALL-E for years to come due to its sheer depth and symbolism. One will portray it is as a thin biblically-themed allegory about the fall and redemption of humanity through love and communion, complete with Adam, Eve, Noah’s Ark, base man vs incorruptible angel, and a voice crying in the wilderness. Another will argue that it is a transhumanist essay about the difference between humans, humanness and humanity, with two different hells, one lacking humans and the other humanness, eventually reunited into a heaven filled with humanity. Yet another will insist that it is a psychological study of the relationship between loneliness and duty, which all the main characters (WALL-E, EVE, AUTO, Captain) are affected by and respond to in their own way. High schoolers will instead write less ambitiously about how dancing is used as a metaphor or the clever use of foreshadowing. And so on. The movie is a literary masterpiece.
It is one thing to dislike the movie. That is completely subjective and everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, by critical standards it is objectively a masterpiece and very probably a work of genius, even if you do not agree with the critics or think that their criteria are irrelevant. Best of all, unlike other works in this category it is also great fun and very entertaining – a very rare quality. That gives it an extra gold star in my book.
Bravo! I don’t go to church anymore, but feel like I have in some way after reading reviews like this one…
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[Edit a month later: came across this link and wasn’t sure to put it in this thread or the ‘Environmental Message’ thread. It’s about the movie’s ‘Fatso Message’:
gawker.com/5024220/wall+es-big-f … ve-problem
The first person that I managed to convince to see this movie said he liked it a lot, but lamented the plight of the humans in the future. It makes interesting reading.
Also, this link about Pixar’s liberal bent and being a haven for former hippies:
gawker.com/5022351/how-pixar-joi … -bandwagon
The opinions expressed aren’t my own, but read the title of this thread. End of edit]
Very nice review, kaikaun. You’ve linked WALL-E to some themes that I’d never even thought about before, especially the comparisons with the Bible and the study of the battle between lonliness and duty. You’re right, it really does have many different levels that everyone can appreciate.
As much as I’m a Pixar nut, I have to say Wall-E’s probably my least favourite of the Pixar films, for several reasons. I found it boring, annoying and had too much of a political agenda behind it. Now, even though I found it okay, I wouldn’t say it’s the best film of the year, not even the best animated film (I actually liked Kung Fu Panda more than this). But maybe it could just be that when I saw it, the theatre quality was probably the worst it’s ever been, and that ruined it for me, and maybe the Blu-ray might change my opinion, but I stand my me not loving it.
Uh, I’d read some interviews with Mr. Stanton before you say the movie has ANY political agenda behind it.
Mister Incredible: I see you and I have similar, if not identical, opinions on WALL-E. I totally, 100% agree with you.