Clean Up On Planet Earth
Written: Aug 16 '08
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Good voice work and animation, Stanton's script and direction
Cons: The connections to other films are fairly obvious
The Bottom Line: He's not just another brick in the WALL-E.
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| pmills1210's Full Review: WALL-E |
The people of late 21st century earth were assured that the cleanup of their planet would take just five years. They were sent into space on a series of shuttles large enough to accommodate everyone. A team of robots was assigned to make the earth habitable once again. Seven centuries later, one robot remained that was capable of doing any work. The descendants of the 21st century earthlings remained in orbit, with computers tending to their every need. In the process of cleaning the planet, earth's last robot has not only grown attached to earthly possessions, but he also cherishes any company he gets, especially the one cockroach that keeps him company. The story of this robot, and the discovery that he makes, is chronicled in WALL-E.
WALL-E (voiced by Ben Burtt) is the robot who spends his day collecting the junk that has been left on the planet and compacting it into piles and piles of cubes. His work goes from sunrise until sunset. During his task, though, WALL-E has become a bit evolved. Not only has he become a gatherer, he has become a collector. A number of items found by WALL-E have never made it to the compactor, including a number of lawn gnomes and a videocassette of Hello Dolly. One day, the robot makes an important discovery. It may be a small plant, but it is an indication that the citizens in orbit can come back to the planet. A spaceship with a probe robot named EVE (voiced by Elissa Knight) has, in fact, been deployed to find plants like the one WALL-E found and transferred to an old boot. After an unfriendly start, WALL-E shows EVE what he has learned in his centuries on earth. Still, EVE wants that plant. When she gets the plant, she sends a signal that returns her to the spaceship that sent her. A confused and lovestruck WALL-E follows.
EVE has a mission to complete. That plant, once aboard the spaceship, is to be presented to Captain McCrea (voiced by Jeff Garlin), so that he may set a course for Earth. The ship's main computer, AUTO (voice provided by Apple Computer's MacIn Talk), has been programmed to override any instruction to return to Earth, and to dispose of any evidence of returning vegetation. McCrea starts to make discoveries he wasn't meant to make, as well as some that should have occurred to some human. EVE and WALL-E, in their own way, do not understand the change of plans that AUTO has made. They now become determined to save the plant, each other, and take the mission to the stage it was meant to go.
Writer-director Andrew Stanton, who has been involved in Pixar's many animated projects over the years, has made Pixar's best film since Toy Story 2. Not only does Stanton pay tribute to science fiction classics, such as 2001, but there's also an element of the silent movie The General. Once WALL-E meets EVE, he will do anything for her, just as Buster Keaton's character did to retrieve his locomotive. When she goes to the ship, he hitches a ride, clutching onto the craft as if he were clutching EVE's hand. As AUTO tries to dispose of the plant, they go to great lengths to stop AUTO. The human element eventually becomes a factor as McCrea starts to pay closer attention to his surroundings. There are also parts of WALL-E that speak to man's responsibility for the planet and for himself, lessons that were also a part of the 2001 Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Stanton, though, doesn't make the ecological message as strong as Atlantis did. He shows a portrait of people and droids changing to the point where they seem to be more like the other.
In the lead roles, Stanton cast two people who are best known for creating vocals, though not for performing them. Burtt is perhaps best known for creating the vocal sounds of the robots in Star Wars. Knight had a small vocal role in Cars, but the Pixar production assistant usually does scratch voice work that gets overdubbed before the film is released to theaters. Stanton, though, made the decision to make Knight's the voice of EVE. He found the right match for Burtt's title character in their robotic sounds. They are students in human behavior - and finding that they like what they discover. They are a couple who are, in time, there for one another. Every Pixar feature, to date, has included voice work by Cheers alum John Ratzenberger. In this, he is John, one of the many inhabitants of the spaceship who has lived a pampered life. He starts to learn things that his descendants had forgotten generations ago. He and fellow passenger Mary (Kathy Najimy) play a key role in keeping their fellow passengers safe at the film's climax. Sigourney Weaver voices the ship's computer, who kindly suggests to the passengers their daily activities. Besides the Hello Dolly actors (most notably, Michael Crawford), Fred Willard becomes a part of a Pixar first. He plays an unanimated Shelby Forthright, the CEO of Buy-n-Large, a corporation that had become the entity that ruled the planet. It was he who created ships that were meant to send everybody into orbit for five years. Only he and AUTO knew the truth about the Earth's condition. Neither foresaw how people might evolve, and how they might respond to responsibility. His actors find the right balance between the comedy of their situations and the fight to do what is right.
WALL-E is a little less lighthearted than the other efforts from the Pixar studio. A sense of frivolity still prevails, but the film also makes points about issues such as health, the environment, and man's growing dependence on technology. The future must always be guided by people who are free to think and to do things on their own, without regard to any popular beliefs. Technology can only go so far. Fortunately, WALL-E learned how to be a better robot. With a human touch, they can make the planet home again to a species that saw its dominance spiral out of control.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Family Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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pmills1210
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Member: Pat Mills
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