Saw it again last night. I cried even more this time. There’s just something about it.
When I went last night, the crowd was a good mixture of kids and adults. But the one thing that I noticed was that the adults laughed more than the kids! Pixar’s visual humour manages to appeal to everyone, which is something that other studios struggle with.
Right from the outset, the use of [spoil]Hello, Dolly! marks this film out as not being all depressing and moody, especially as its target audience is of a younger age range. It sort of reminds me of MI, where they used that animated door sequence with the cheery, playful music to set the tone, as opposed to the opening scene which at first appears to be dark and scary. Hello, Dolly! also reminds the viewers of an age long gone even in comparison to the present day, so the contrast between the cheerful musical lyrics and our abandoned Earth is just so stark. Even the clever comparison between other galaxies and planets against Earth, surrounded by rubbish and satellites just makes it clear how much we’ve spoilt everything.
I think the strength of this film is not the green message, though. It’s more the incredible characterisation of, well, all the characters. I’m not one for love stories usually, but WALL-E’s loneliness is so potent that it’s difficult not to wish for something good to happen to him. Despite the fact that he’s looked after himself for nigh on 700 years, it’s still obvious that he needs someone to look out for him. He’s clumsy, naive and not completely understanding of the world around him. He really is a child in comparison to the perhaps wiser and more capable EVE- such as when she solves the rubix cube, for example, or when she uses the lighter as he doesn’t even realise what it’s for in the first place- but he teaches her something in the end. He teaches her what it means to truly care and love about someone. That moment when EVE is playing back the security camera recording of when WALL-E has been looking after her is, for me, the most touching part of the movie. It has suddenly clicked in EVE’s mind that WALL-E loves her for her, not because of some other ulterior motive or directive.
A lot of people have said that the film takes a turn for the worse when WALL-E and EVE arrive on the Axiom, but I disagree. For me, that’s when things start to improve. Sure, there are the chase sequences, something Pixar is pretty well known for, but they have so much added meaning when two established characters are involved. WALL-E captures the hearts of everyone he meets, despite his outward appearence of being a rusty old cube. It’s just such an inspiring story, and the climatic (and rather funny) battle between the Captain and Auto is almost touching; it’s funny, but the second time I saw the film, I really felt sorry for Auto, whilst the first time I saw it I just thought he seemed a bit flat, only wishing to follow his directive. But there’s a hint of desperation in his voice that I hadn’t noticed before, and the little details like that are what make a Pixar film something different. If Dreamworks or any other company had been making this exact same film, they would’ve gone the whole hog and made Auto this evil, villainous robot intent on destroying humanity. But Pixar has made him into something incapable of going against what he was made to do, and because of this, both WALL-E and EVE seem all the more unique- not every robot can turn against their inbuilt purpose. Hence why when EVE throws the plant to one side, focusing only on WALL-E, it’s such an important moment.
There are little plot holes in WALL-E, little moments where it’s easy to question the story. But that’s only because it’s such an ambitious undertaking, and Pixar have managed to create something that really hasn’t been done before. It’s in its imperfections that WALL-E shines, because that’s the whole point- WALL-E himself isn’t perfect, and yet he still manages to achieve what humanity cannot. And EVE inspires him to do so- EVE makes WALL-E realise that there is more out there. One does not work without the other, and that’s when a true pairing is formed.[/spoil]
I’ve probably just stated a whole bunch of obvious things, but I just can’t help but love this film so much. It’s been quite a while since I’ve just sat down and enjoyed a movie of this quality, but it’s good to know that there’s still a company out there that isn’t turning into Buy N Large, and that’s still choosing quality over quantity. Sort of restores your faith in humanity, doesn’t it?