Wall-E!
Johnathan and I braved late night and possible teeny-boppers to see Wall-E at the midnight release last night. Once upon a time, we would have had no problem with the midnight showing, even with work following the next day. Our schedules being what they are, though, it was a bit rough managing to stay up until the movie started.
The night was unfortunately laden with small disasters. The first was that the second the “first look” came on, it was painfully loud. We were hoping the assault on our eardrums would cease when the previews came up, but we had no luck there. It was only after Johnathan sought someone out and informed them of our dilemma that they even realized there was one. They did bring the volume down to a level that wasn’t painful, even if it was still over-loud for a movie theater.
Later on, during the middle of the film, the reel got off so that we were seeing the bottom part of the frame at the top and the top was in the middle. It was incredibly annoying and it probably took almost five minutes for someone to fix it. If it had kept up much longer, I’d have probably pitched a fit and demanded my money back - which would have been the first time I’ve ever done that at a movie theater. It was fixed before the climax of the movie, at least, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the movie in peace.
After being slapped in the face again by the trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua and having to see Brendan Frasier try to act again (as well as a couple of previews for some movies that look entertaining), we got to see the Pixar short! It was about a magician and a rabbit, and past that, aside from the hat that was remniscent of the Sorcerer Mickey hat, I can’t bring myself to divulge any further information about it. Pixar still has that spark and talent that I think you should see it for yourself rather than read my inadequate description of it.
Movie review continues beyond here. There will be spoilers.
Then, wonder of wonders! The movie actually started! Hurrah! When it first started, I was shocked to hear Michael Crawford’s voice beam out from 1969 singing “Put on Your Sunday Clothes.” It was pretty much the opening song to the movie, and became a theme throughout as one of Wall-E’s interests.
From the very beginning, Wall-E, whose extent of speaking is limited to things like “Waaaaall-e” and “ta-da,” has a very distinct and interesting personality. He is almost human, despite his robot sensibilities. The things that we inherently understand, he has spent time inquiring about and exploring before coming to his own conclusions as to their purpose and function. The idea of such an inquisitive robot is endearing and sweet and I found that it immediately made me like Wall-E as a character.
Despite the fact that there is very little speaking in the movie (as it focuses on robots who can say a very limited number of things in language that we lowly humans can understand), the story is quite clearly articulated. This, I think, is a sign of Pixar’s continuing genius. We were able to go to a movie late at night and watch something that wasn’t explicitly described to us (as most movie plots are), and retain a high level of comprehension throughout the entire film.
As the movie progresses, the social commentary becomes very strong. Not only in the obvious ways (the litter, pollution and destruction that Wall-E is set to clean up), but also in more subtle ways. The lives that people live on the Axiom, which is the ship that the people from Earth leave to when the planet becomes too dirty and polluted to support life any longer, are those of blind consumers, believing what they’re told and so plugged into the minutae of their lives that they miss some of the bigger and more beautiful aspects of their current lifestyle. The people have become so stuck in this rut that they have gotten quite fat and in fact lost bone matter. They ride around on hovering chairs with robots filling their every demand almost instantly. They believe everything they are told by the Big Box Mart-esque BNL advertisements which echo very closely the same kind of advertisements that we are currently bombarded with daily.
BNL, or “Buy n Large,” is really the Big Corporation of D0000M that got them into the mess in the first place, but because of their blindness and lack of other knowledge (the people have been on the Axiom for so long that they don’t even remember Earth - they have never even been there before), they know nothing else than to believe exactly what their digitally projected screens tell them.
The commentary goes on from there with both the subtle and the obvious. I think it’s a wonderful statement for Pixar to make because if things don’t start changing, this is where we’re headed. On the other hand, it isn’t a giant advertisement for recycling and responsible consumerism: it’s also a damn good movie. I’m pleased and absolutely impressed to say that Pixar has done it again. They have made a vibrant and interesting film that is sure to find its place along side the eight other Pixar successes in some kind of hall of fame.
I can’t state enough how much I enjoyed this film. I recommend it to anyone who has loved any of Pixar’s eight other wonderful films, or heck, is even just mildly interested in robots. Wall-E is a wonderful film and frankly, I can’t wait to see it again.
And now, I leave you with Wall-E and a vacuum:
