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An excellent accomplishment, Wall-E is undeniably Pixar's strongest release to date, as well as the most adult and probably the most tear-jerking, although Monsters, Inc. is deserving of holding the top spot. Come on, who didn't choke up on the ending. Anyway, Wall-E is enjoyable by both adults and children. Children will be fascinated by the visuals - which were top-notch, by the way - and by the robot's, Wall-E, mannerisms and all the funny bits. Adults, however, get to see beyond more than just laughs, more than just a robot whose vocabulary is limited to just 5-6 words. We, the adults, get to see the destruction of our world, and the people, in a frank, straight-forward, and shocking it may sound, truthful way. The people in the film have become obese, bloated and lazy. They have long since given up walking and are 100% dependent on machines. They spend their waking moments eating, drinking, and staring at the screen in front of them, just like we all do, just like you're doing right now. They are so engrossed in it that they have lost all contact with the outside world and have become totally oblivious to both themselves and the vicinity; We have a pool? Even though Andrew Stanton and pretty much all the crew behind this film had only intended it to be a children's movie, it instead gave us a heavy presentation of our fast (or rapidly?) decaying world and how we have become dependent on machines and technology. Take a walk outside, go to a fair or someplace, and observe how many people are actually looking at the world around them. That's right, few to none, as all of their noses are stuck on their phones. And I'm saying this from experience. The life onboard the Axiom correctly matches our own here on how people have become stupid, totally reliant on technology and the media. Oh yes, don't forget the media. Everything, literally everything, has been replaced by screens, both onboard the Axiom and the real world. Wanna talk to the other guy? The screen is here. Wanna play golf? The screen is here. Wanna just sit and stare idly at something? Well, the screen is here! E-reading has taken over the traditional way of reading books, and that right there proves my point. I wish the underlying - and serious - themes of Wall-E wakes people up from their slumber and that somebody does something about it. Little kids may laugh at the film, but adults know better.
Anyway, as a cartoon, Wall-E is a masterpiece. Its main protagonist is by and far their most iconic creation to date. I think he should be a bigger household name than Buzz or Woody, Pixar's original heroes. Mute, or semi-mute, or in this case a robot, characters have a unique way of tugging at your heart-strings; They speak aloud with their expressions and/or whatever they can mumble through their limited vocabulary. We have countless movies about the last man left alone on earth and we all have cried one way or another, especially when we see his daily, lonely routine in a montage or when his only friend dies, namely I Am Legend, with Will Smith and his dog. Wall-E is about the last robot left alone on what has become of earth and finds love in EVE, a sleek robot sent to earth to bring back a life form, that is if there is any. The naming of that robot, EVE, is not a co-incidence. EVE and Wall-E reminded me of Adam & Eve, and the Axiom the Noah's Ark, although it really doesn't make any sense, but I don't know. When the human beings land on earth once again, bringing about the story of the first people on earth, descended from Paradise (Axiom to them was heaven). Oh, what the hey!
The sci-fi influences on Wall-E is unmissable. Trained eyes cannot fail to spot references to Terminator, Alien, Aliens, RoboCop, Star Trek, Star Wars and 2001: A Space Odyssey, the most easiest to spot from them all. Auto, the rogue auto-pilot A.I. is designed on HAL 9000, not difficult to spot. They also play the theme from the film - quite shamelessly - when the captain starts to walk for the first time. Hell, they even have Sigourney Weaver in a voice role, so what does that tell you?
In conclusion, Wall-E is a beautiful cartoon with an amazing attention to detail. It shouldn't be approached for just entertainment, but with also a psychological understanding to it in mind. Try to take everything in a metamorphical sense and you will understand. If only we can be serious about this, we can save the world, and ourselves, from becoming what just saw.
9.0/10
