WALL-E

[kerravonsen]

I missed out on seeing WALL-E in the cinemas, but tonight I finally managed to watch it on DVD. I have one word: WOW.

I mean, it isn't like it's Shakespeare, but... so totally impressive that so much of the story was told without words.

Bits that made me smile:
- the spork
- the indestructible cockroach
- the imperishable twinkie

I couldn't help thinking of Doctor Who "hand-porn" with all the holding-hands-as-a-symbol-of-love thing.

There were a lot of things that they got right.
- That EV-A tried different languages with WALL-E before she hit on the right one (though they handwaved that when it came to the people)
- Look what 700 years on a luxury cruise can do; though I agree with someone who said that it wasn't that it was giving a negative stereotype of fat people, because they were all pretty decent people. It was more... anti-consumerism, really. The people had been deprived of a life worth living, and they didn't know what they were missing.
- The fact that the civilisation hadn't changed their ways: they were still throwing out trash, they were just throwing it into space rather than the Earth.

I liked the lightbulb moment that the Captain had about "lending a helping hand". In a way, this is sort of an anti-"Silent Running" - they were both about the same thing, about fighting against ecological destruction, but "Silent Running" is a sort of angry despair, and WALL-E is a hopeful faithfulness. Because WALL-E, the character, he hits one of my loves: faithfulness. He alone has been faithful, and he is instrumental in this renewal, in his pursuit of love. He's a bringer of chaos, but it's a good chaos. There's probably some archetype for that, not a Trickster, but something else. Pippa Passes, perhaps.

Hmmm, I ended up writing more than I expected. Good film.

Comments

[communicator.livejournal.com]

Yes, I loved it too.

You are right about telling without words. I watched it in France, in French, and me + my daughter didn't have any trouble with it (and she's never studied French at all)

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

This film is love for Geo and me all the way around. It just . . . engages you and sucks you in from the beginning, and so much of it is told visually. (We also got a huge chuckle out of Wall-E's version of a morning cup of coffee.)

We also really liked the depiction of what happens to a society wherein every need is met by, in this case, a big, corporate entity. (I was also wondering what happened to all the people on Earth who couldn't afford the cost of the initial flight.) It's also, I think, something of a statement about how self-involved--simply unaware of what's around us until we trip over it.

There's just all sorts of juicy goodness to pull apart in the movie, and yes. Hopeful. (And those who left the theater--I did see it in the theater--before the end credits were finished really missed out.)

[kerravonsen]

Oh yes, the end credits! The history of art from cave-paintings to Van Gough. And then the early-style computer games. 8-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I adored this film, although I found the first half-hour almost unbearably painful to watch.

[kerravonsen]

I found the first half-hour almost unbearably painful to watch.
Because of the bleakness? The loneliness? Both? Something else?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

SPOILER-FILLED! LOOK AWAY! AWOOGA!


The loneliness. Particularly when EV-A folds back into herself, and WALL-E is trying to get her to communicate, because WALL-E hadn't realized it's condition until then. Oh, and then I was in tears again at the end when WALL-E reboots and isn't WALL-E anymore (until the healing hands, of course). Small things being lonely is a real killer for me.

Edited because I realized there were people reading this thread who hadn't seen it.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I only just watched this on DVD myself a few weeks ago. I definitely enjoyed it, though I didn't love it as much as I'd hoped to... I think it was over-hyped to me a bit, sadly. Also, while I liked the movie's message, it was hard to appreciate it as much as I should have, because I kept remembering the point a friend of mine who's a movie critic made when the film first came out: there are a lot of cheap toys and t-shirts and plastic cups and food wrappers with pictures of Wall-E on them. It's kind of a disturbing thing to contemplate.

In a way, this is sort of an anti-"Silent Running"

Oh, that's an excellent comparison.

[kerravonsen]

I think it was over-hyped to me a bit, sadly.
Yes, that is sad. Nothing like over-hype to ruin a film; for me, if it's word-of-mouth hype, then it raises my expectations too high and I'm disappointed, and if it's marketing-hype then it makes me hostile towards the film, and tend to think that it must be crap or they wouldn't be trying so hard rather than let it stand on its own merits.

because I kept remembering the point a friend of mine who's a movie critic made when the film first came out: there are a lot of cheap toys and t-shirts and plastic cups and food wrappers with pictures of Wall-E on them
Ouch. Ouch.

Oh, that's an excellent comparison.
Thank you. I mean, I liked Silent Running very much, but it also makes me angry, while WALL-E makes me smile. What I hope that neither one does is make people apathetic.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

*hearts WALL-E* The shorts on the DVD are well worth watching, too. *grin*

[kerravonsen]

I haven't seen the extras yet, it was rather late by the time I'd seen the movie proper.

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved that movie so, so much. And I never cought the Silent Running connection before, but you're absolutely right.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen it because I hate films with a blunt-instrument message, and I was worried about the depiction of overweight people, but I'm certainly going to give it a go now.