I'm a sucker for two types of movies: father-and-son stories (In the Name of the Father, Finding Nemo) and misfit love stories (Amelie). Pixar's latest masterpiece, Wall-e, is a beautiful example of the misfit love story, the misfits being two little robots from vastly different environments. Wall-e spends his days on an Earth no longer habitable for mankind. No birds soar through the rust-colored skies and piles of trash stand tall alongside abandoned skyscrapers. Wall-e, seemingly the last surviving robot of his kind, is responsible for these trash piles. Accompanied by his only friend, a cockroach, Wall-e sifts through our forgotten garbage, saving various treasures for his growing collection.
On the other side of the universe, Eve, a probe robot, spends her days on the Axiom, humankind's current home. A space cruise-liner, the Axiom offers a vast variety of liquified meals one can easily suck through a straw and hover-chairs that make it no longer necessary to walk. The hover-chairs are also equipped with televisions making true human interaction obsolete. As a result of these fancy futuristic luxuries, the human collective sport walrus-bodies which they keep squeezed into tight, red jumpsuits.Wall-e meets Eve when she is sent to Earth to search for vegetation. Apparently this has been going on for 700 years without a positive result. Wall-e falls instantly in love, sharing with Eve his vast treasure trove of various odds and ends and introducing her to his favorite film, Hello Dolly, which he watches endlessly. Slowly but surely a love affair develops and that's when yours truly lost it. Can't help it, dudes. When I see two super-cute robots in love, forget about it--here come the waterworks.
Wall-e and Eve spend the bulk of the movie simply repeating each other's names, but the emotional punch behind these recitations is powerful. Pokemon beasties do the same thing, but who really gives a shit.
Wall-e is beautiful to look at as well. From the post-apocalyptic, orange-tinted wasteland that Earth has become to the candy-colored outer reaches of space, Wall-e is your typical Pixar feast for the eyes. The story of two robots in love is cute, but there is also an environmental message, as well as a warning about mass consumerism. And there's a live-action Fred Willard!
As I stated earlier, Wall-e is a masterpiece, hands down the best movie in theaters right now, and my early pick for best movie of the summer season (maybe of 2008?). As we walked out of the theater, I turned to my wife and pondered, "Why can't all movies be Pixar movies?" Sigh.
GEP's Grade: A+
