So, it is movie review week on the blog.
WALL-E was okay, I thought, for a Pixar movie. It was visually fascinating and, at times, touching and beautiful (I loved the scene where the robots dance in outer space). It lacked some of the wit and humor, though, of the earlier Pixar movies. This is probably because the movie contains little verbal dialogue. Most of the humor is physical in nature and involves WALL-E falling down or something similar. I can only laugh at that so many times. There are subtle bits of humor, though, which are buried in the rich visual world, and it will doubtless take more viewings to appreciate all of these visual jokes. So perhaps I shouldn't judge it so quickly.
As far as themes go, there are obvious points being made about environmental degradation and consumerism (which is odd given that Pixar itself thrives on mass-consumerism). This all seemed kind of obvious to me and maybe a bit heavy-handed, even though I largely agree with the underlying message. More interesting was the subtler theme of duty versus love. When should we let relationships trump our our duty? And when is duty more important than love? The film seems to suggest that duty and love need not be opposed. Love and duty can coexist and inform one another. WALL-E takes on EVE's quest to do her duty (which, in eventually cleaning up Earth, connects to his duty) and this is what builds their relationship. A fascinating point.
Another point: The film also shows future humanity in an infantilized state -- fat, dependent on machines, barely able to walk. They exist on a spaceship, a virtual artificial bubble, doing trivial things and living lives without a larger point or purpose. There is no striving or risk or reaching for something better. By becoming dependent on machines, human lose their humanity. And then the robots become human. I suspect there is more truth in this point than I am comfortable with.
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