Cinema In Focus

WALL-E

2 Stars - Shallow

The creative genius of Disney’s Pixar studio has been taken captive in their latest cartoon “WALL-E.” Taking human consumption and waste to the extreme and imagining a time in which garbage has taken over our planet to the extent that people have to leave, the film presents a humanity that is unrecognizable. Though able to create amazing robotic machines and gargantuan spaceships, humans are presented as ignorant, obese beings who have no more sense than to despoil our planet and let robots clean up our mess while we lounge on a cruise ship in space. But this isn’t a cruise ship on which humans dance, swim and recreate, but rather one on which humans no longer walk or engage one another in relationship but instead live on moving, reclining beds with their appetites satisfied by robotic servants while their minds are titillated by holographic television. If this is an attempt to exaggerate a tendency people have to be lazy and wasteful, it does so with incredible dislike for human beings.

Written and directed by Oscar winning director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo), the creativity and humor of the film is pervasive. From the allusions to robots of cinematic fame such as R2D2 of Star Wars to the use of classic art in the credits (Monet’s impressionism, Seurat’s pointillism, Van Gogh’s neo-impressionism), Stanton does not disappoint his audience. The ability to create a love story between two machines that use only sounds to communicate is amazing. It is both believable and engaging.

These two machines are robots created seven centuries apart but with the ability to feel loneliness, fear, loyalty and love. The hero of this romantic tale is WALL-E (voice by Ben Burtt). As his name implies, he is a “Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth class.” Manufactured by the mega-corporation of “BnL” (Buy ‘n Large) which is responsible for getting humans to consume so much that we create such a large amount of garbage that we need a robotic garbage machine. WALL-E is that machine and is now the last of his kind. Having worked for 700 years to clean up the trash left behind by humans who abandoned the planet, WALL-E has become lonely. Repairing his aging parts off the junkyard remains of previous units of his kind, soaking up the sun in his solar panels for energy and collecting objects of interest from the piles of trash he bundles daily, WALL-E’s only companion is a single cockroach who befriends him.

But into his piles of trash which now dwarf the sky-scrapers of his city lands a spaceship with an enticing visitor named EVE (voice by Elissa Knight). As her name implies, EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) is a highly advanced robot who has been sent back to earth to see if the planet has once more produced life. When WALL-E presents her with the present of a small plant, then the adventure literally lifts off as WALL-E becomes the knight in robotic armor who saves not only his beloved EVE but humanity as well.

WALL-E is an “agenda-toon” which is not so much for children as it is for the adults it hopes to reach with its message. That it is a degrading exaggeration wrapped in creative genius makes it a film that lacks the timeless appeal of Stanton’s other films, such as “Toy Story,” “Monsters Inc.” and “A Bug’s Life.”

Discussion:

How much truth do you believe is expressed by this film? Why do you answer as you do?

When the Captain (voice by Jeff Garlin) of the ship on which the humans have been living for the last seven centuries realizes that the robotic autopilot will not return to earth, he finds the fortitude to stand up against it. Do you think human beings would ever become so dependent on machines that we would not be able to stand up and turn them off?

What do you think of this film’s storyline of misfit robots bringing about the freedom of humanity? Is there an underlying meaning and, if so, what is it?

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Cinema In Focus is a social and spiritual movie commentary. Hal Conklin is former mayor of Santa Barbara and Denny Wayman is pastor of the Free Methodist Church. For more reviews: http://www.cinemainfocus.com.