Review of WALL·E (2008) by Matthew O — 22 Jun 2016

When it comes to the greatest Pixar movies, most people agree that WALL-E is definitely one of the best, and many of them say that it is the best. And even some say that it's one of the greatest films ever made period. It's actually kind of insane how much praise it's getting.

So, is it bad to say that I think it's a bit overrated? I'm sorry, but this is not among my favorite Pixar films, or even one of my favorite animated films. But, that does not mean that I dislike this film, or that I can't see why people love it so much. For me, the best parts in the film are in the first half. The film is set several centuries later and shows our home planet all polluted, so you could tell right away that this movie is a cautionary tale about the environment. But throughout the first half, they do it in a way that's very subtle. They didn't add any dialogue to help convey the message, it's all done through visuals, which is really all you need.

And the visuals look incredible, the animation looks very photo-realistic. I'd swear they just filmed it at a certain area and added in a CG robot (WALL-E) and follow along his journey around the abandoned Earth. To this day, I think this the best looking Pixar film we've had yet. The whole first act is a chance for the audience to just get sucked into the film's atmosphere, be a part of an experience, not have to listen to any dialogue, and just enjoy the relationship between WALL-E and EVE (or EVA), which by the way is adorable.

I just wish that the rest of the film was like that. I know that some may find it boring if they would've stayed on Earth, but you never know. Pixar is known for taking risks, and it probably would've been more interesting if they were to stay on Earth, just focus on the two robots, and have mankind be this great mystery of where they moved on. Make the film less of a movie and more of an experience. Instead, we get to see what mankind is up to and show that they still have hopes of returning to their home planet and repopulating it. That concept is okay, but it easily could've been a lot stronger because of what we've seen in the first half. In the second half, the message is not as meaningful as it was in the first half. It was much more powerful when they showed us what are world would be like rather than tell us over and over that maybe we should return home and actually do something about it. By then, the message becomes too preachy.

And we've heard of this message so many times already. We get it, our world is in danger, mankind is polluting the planet, and it might eventually become uninhabitable unless we do something. I know, I'm probably being too harsh on this. Of course, I care about our home planet. It's just with this film, they keep hammering in that message that I become disinterested. I guess it's just not my cup of tea.

I know you're probably thinking that I don't like this film because of the preachy environmental message, I don't think that way at all. I don't love the film, but I still really like it. It's just that it started off so well when presenting the message in a subtle way only by visuals and atmosphere that it doesn't come off nearly as powerful when they verbally tell you the message. Sometimes, it's better to show and not tell. But the stuff I love in the first half, with the incredible visuals and the relationship between WALL-E and EVE, I really love. Even though I have my own personal problems with the film, don't let me stop you from loving it.

Grade: B+.