WALL-E: A New Space Odyssey

Just four days ago, Pixar released its ninth feature-length film, WALL-E, and for the ninth time, we have been treated to a film that is nearly perfection. Time will tell if it will be as commercially successful as Pixar's other films (it is certainly on its way), but it will certainly be remembered as one of the studio's greatest. The simplest explanation for the plot is that it is a love story, but to call it that is to miss all the nuances of the film. Yes, the love story is the driving force of the movie, but there is so much more going on.

In addition to the love story between WALL-E, a nearly 700-year-old robot designed to make Earth habitable again after consumer culture has left it a polluted wasteland, and EVE, a new probe sent to determine if the job has been completed, the film examines our dependency on technology (and succeeds much better than Sarah Marshall's film about a deadly cell phone ["How could a mobile phone have an agenda?!"]). Cinema fans will notice more than a few parallels to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, notably through AUTO, an autopilot computer with a red "eye" (also, the first half hour or so is nearly dialogue-free, with the exceptions coming from live-action segments, the first to appear in a Pixar film).

When WALL-E meets EVE, he is thrilled to have a companion, since he has spent 700 years on Earth alone. In that time, he has found relics of humanity, including a VHS cassette of Hello Dolly! that has taught him a few things about how to be human. But when EVE is called back to her ship, WALL-E follows her and meets the last remaining humans. When he arrives there, the audience learns a few things about the state of humanity. Most horrifying is that the most human character in the film is WALL-E. The ship that has housed humanity for the past seven centuries is a sort of luxury space cruise ship that is owned by the Buy 'N' Large corporation, which seems to own everything nowadays. Robots do all the work for humans, including motion. Every man, woman and child is equipped with a kind of hovering lawn chair, assuring us that no one will ever have to walk again. All food is provided in liquid form (cupcake in a cup!), and a bombardment of advertisements tell everyone exactly what to do. Every person looks and dresses alike, and due to self-propulsion being eliminated, the entire human race is morbidly obese. It never ceases to amaze me just how fine the line between utopia and dystopia really is.

Pixar's technology seems to visibly increase with each movie. Even the polluted and desolate Earth has a kind of sick beauty to it. But as usual, this movie's true greatness stems from its characters. WALL-E is a joy to watch, and not just because he has a tendency to get knocked around. He has ambitions to become more than what he was programmed for, and he conveys these through his actions. Meanwhile, seeing the gradual reemergence of humanity within a select few humans is inspiring.

If you don't believe me that this film is incredibly moving, listen to this; when I saw the film, a kid broke down crying. Now you may be thinking that he was just a baby and needed feeding or something, but that is not the case. He began to cry when something worthy of that emotion happened, and continued until he no longer had reason to.

And so there you have it. Pixar Studios may be the greatest studio in the history of movie-making. They are less than two decades old, but they have an unblemished record.

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