WALL.E (2008)

Director: Andrew Stanton
Story: Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter
Cast: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight 
Music: Thomas Newman
Time: 98 minutes
Bottom-line: Charming, funny and moving... Pixar has done it again!

Before WALL.E, the closest I ever got to being sentimental in a robot film is in the climax of Terminator 2. It is true that robots cannot feel emotions like humans... but can humans feel for robots? WALL.E is the story of two robots whose story is so moving, it could very well bring you to tears.

After 700 years of doing what he was built for - he'll discover what he's meant for.
The year 2805: all life forms have abandoned the Earth, which is now just covered with heaps of garbage. Seven centuries earlier, a mega-corporation Buy ‘n’ Large (BnL) had evacuated all the humans into automated star-liners, leaving behind WALL.E units (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth-class) to clean up the Earth until they return (if they do). Only one unit now remains, and thanks to several years of life experience, this unit can feel emotions like humans do. WALL.E discovers a growing seedling one day. Soon a spaceship lands, and a robot EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) – or “Eeeeevaaa” as WALL.E calls her – searches the Earth for vegetation. WALL.E falls for her immediately, and as he takes her to his habitat, she finds the plant, stores it inside herself, and shuts down. We later understand that EVE’s mission, assigned by BnL, was to inspect the Earth for signs of vegetation. As the spaceship retrieves EVE, WALL.E manages to enter it too. The adventures the two of them have after this is what the film is about.

WALL.E (left) and EVE

There are barely any dialogues in the film – most of the story is understood through body language and the images. In fact, the robots WALL.E and EVE don’t say anything more than each other’s names, and the words “directive” and “plant”. But yet, the message of love, friendship and nostalgia is conveyed in such a beautiful manner that even if this was a silent film, it would have been equally captivating. This is one of the best pieces of animation I have seen (second probably only to Finding Nemo)– through the eyes and body language of two robots, so many emotions are displayed, that even reach out to the viewer! The last few minutes when EVE tries to fix WALL.E is really moving. These two could well be two of the most– if not the most – adorable characters Pixar has ever created.

The story addresses many themes, starting with the consequences of consumerism, and how human activities can eventually make the Earth a wasteland. In the film we see that all the humans are obese, and are living a mechanical lifestyle, in a world where everything is automated. We also get an idea of what would happen if robots actually had emotions like humans did. Another theme is nostalgia – portrayed in the way the captain battles the machines to get humans back to the Earth, the place where they belong. The best part is all these messages are shown in a fairly realistic manner – entertaining and funny, and at the same time, thought-provoking.

A minimalist poster of the characters (WALL.E, EVE, the plant,
the AI autopilot, the human pilot, the cleaner robot
and two humans in the star-liner)

You know a film is going to be terrific when it’s from Pixar Studios, but WALL.E is really an extra-special movie. In 98 minutes we are given such a wonderful experience, and so many memories, be it WALL.E’s eyes or the robots holding hands etc. Do not miss this film.
Get ready for an adventure, beyond the Ordinar-E! 

My Rating: 4.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%