GUEST COLUMN: "WALL-E" Movie Review

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WALL-E Movie Review

by Devin Caldwell

WALL-E is a 2008 animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Andrew Stanton produced it. It stars Ben Burtt as the voice of WALL-E. 

Summary

WALL-E uses the story of an abandoned trash compacting robot as commentary on the negative impacts of consumerism and excessive wastefulness on the environment. The population of Earth fails to learn lessons, such as how does recycling save energy, and is forced to flee a dying planet as a result. 

Plot

The movie is set on 29th century Earth, which has become one large garbage dump thanks to the wasteful consumption and corporate greed of the former citizens of the planet. The planet is completely devoid of human life, with the corporate giant Buy-N-Large having evacuated the human race on giant spaceships 700 years before the start of the film. The corporation left trash compacting robots behind to clean up the planet, but only one is still operating.

The central character of the film is the last remaining Waste Allocation Load-Lifter: Earth-Class, known as WALL-E. WALL-E spends his days compacting trash and collecting objects he finds interesting. His normal routine is interrupted by a visit from an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, or EVE. EVE's job is to check the planet for signs of life. WALL-E, who has been living a lonely existence, is taken with EVE and the pair hit it off before EVE shuts down after WALL-E shows her a live seedling that he discovered amongst the garbage on the planet. 

A probe from the starship Axiom collects EVE and the seedling. WALL-E grabs on to EVE and is transported to the ship with her. On board the ship, WALL-E discovers a human population that has lost much of its physical ability due to microgravity and overreliance on technology to handle the tasks of daily living. The ship's captain, B. McCrea, isn't sure how to respond to the unexpected discovery of a living plant on Earth, but eventually figures out that putting the seedling in the ship's Holo-Detector will cause the ship to return to Earth so that its occupants can begin recolonizing. 

However, when McCrea looks for the plant in EVE's storage compartment, it is gone. EVE blames WALL-E. WALL-E triggers a series of unfortunate events that frustrate EVE, who attempts to send WALL-E back to Earth. Before she can accomplish this goal, the pair discover the ship's auto-pilot robot attempting to destroy the seedling. WALL-E and EVE manage to save the seedling from destruction and give it to McCrea. McCrea attempts to trigger the ship's return to Earth but discovers that the auto-pilot has secretly been programmed with a directive from the Big-N-Large corporation to never return to Earth, which it determined will never be inhabitable. 

The robots and McCrea battle the auto-pilot, eventually managing to successfully initiate the hyperjump to Earth, but not before WALL-E sacrifices himself. Back on Earth, EVE fixes WALL-E, but his memory and personality have been erased. A grieving EVE gives WALL-E a goodbye kiss that restores his memories and personality. The people and robots of the Axiom return to the planet and begin cleaning it up, eventually transforming it into a paradise. 

Review

WALL-E is an unusual Disney release. The film features extremely limited dialog, with much of the communication consisting of robotic sounds and yet the two robot characters are very compelling main characters and their love story is believable and engaging. The movie features a heavy-handed anti-consumerism and anti-corporate message, which is a bit ironic for a film released by corporate giant Disney.

Overall, the film is an entertaining, heartwarming tale that juxtaposes how the robots at the center of the story have more humanity than the humans who have lost much of theirs thanks to their reliance on technology. Despite how thickly the movie lays on its message, it is an enjoyable romp with characters, both human and robotic, you can root for.