(Movie Review) "WALL-E" ["This kid flick perhaps the most cynical & darkest Disney movie ever]

PajamaMedia ^ | June 27, 2008 | Kyle Smith

[4yearlurker]

Look for little plastic cubes of rubbish soon in your kid's Happy Meals. Collect them all! Six different colors! Then throw them away.

[gridlock]

I have seen a lot of promos for this one, and I gotta say, I was not looking forward to it. For one thing, the fembot looks like it was designed for easy CGI and makes no physical sense, whatsoever. Pixar is great when it represents real things in an unreal world. This character just does not look in any way real.

The other impression I got was that it was unremittingly dark. This is borne out by this review. I will see it anyway, of course. Little choice in the matter, you know...

[llmc1]

From Christianity Today:

Moring: OK, but why were the humans on the space station all fat and riding around in their hovering lounge chairs?

Stanton (director): I wasn’t trying to make the humans into fat, lazy consumers, but to make humanity appear to be completely consumed by everything that can distract you—to the point where they lost connection with each other, even though they’re right next to each other. The reason I made them look like big babies was because a NASA guy told me that they haven’t yet simulated gravity perfectly for long-term residency in space. And if they don’t get it just right, atrophy kicks in and you begin to lose your muscle tone—you just turn into a blob of goo. For a while, that’s what I did with the humans in the movie; they were just big blobs of Jell-O. But it was so bizarre, we had to pull it back. So I said, well, let’s just make them look like big babies. That’s where all that came from.

I wasn’t trying to make some sort of mean-spirited comment on consumerism or today’s society. I was going with just the logic of what would happen if you were in a perpetual vacation with no real purpose in life. So I went with the idea that we’d become sort of big babies with no reason to grow up. I definitely saw humanity as victims of this system that they were in. They were just big babies that needed to stand on their own two feet.

The last thing I’m going to do is try to make a message movie!

(I don’t think I believe him.)

[big'ol_freeper]

Ugh

[freepertoo]

Me? I’m going back to see Iron Man.

[stevio]

Went to see Kung Foo Panda (which was pretty good) and saw the previews to this. It didn’t seem like it was that good but I told the kids we could come back and see it (personally love going to the drive-in myself). We’ll see.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

I was going with just the logic of what would happen if you were in a perpetual vacation with no real purpose in life. So I went with the idea that we’d become sort of big babies with no reason to grow up. I definitely saw humanity as victims of this system that they were in. They were just big babies that needed to stand on their own two feet.

Not a bad message if you are going to give one to kids. "Don't take the easy way, it just makes you weak and useless."

The Incredibles was one of the most Conservative movies of the last decade, so I think I'll wait to pass judgement on this same group of filmmakers.

[kevkrom]

As a counter-point, Rotten Tomatoes has an aggregate rating of 98% (87 positive out of 89 reviews) on this movie.

[CharlieOK1]

Did they at least save money by recycling the robot from Short Circuit? (#5 if memory serves...)

[massgopguy]

I thought this was about the Red Sox mascot.

[llmc1]

I think what bothered me about the director’s statement was “I saw humanity as victims...” Looking at history, in general, people were/are problem solvers.

But I agree with your points. We are going to see Wall-E today and we’ll judge for ourselves.

[Eepsy]

http://decentfilms.com/sections/reviews/wall-e.html

This reviewer liked it well enough, and I usually find him pretty reliable....

[martin_fierro]

They float through their troglodyte lives as unquestioning subjects of the master corporation (the same one that ruined the Earth) that houses them, distracts them and feeds them.

When The State provides for us all, things will be better.

[llmc1]

I enjoyed the movie. I was concerned when I watched the first scene, but the movie is mostly a love story with triumph over adversity. The animation was beautiful.

[dfwgator]

Never bet against Pixar. And I assume that John Ratzenberger made his usual Pixar appearance in this one.

[Ramius]

Curious.

On KVI this morning they had the movie reviewer on, and he reviewed this movie. He always approaches his reviews from a Conservative and Christian point of view. He ~loved~ the movie and thought it was one of the better movies of the year. I’ve found myself agreeing with him about previous movies.

So... I’ll reserve judgment until later. I don’t know if I would see this one in the theater anyway. Usually I wait for the DVD. But maybe.

[llmc1]

Yes, he’s there. It’s a cute, but pretty small, role.

[weegee]

Considering that PIXAR was at least at one time radically pro-abortion (they wouldn’t lease prints of their short films to theaters in some states that held the wrong politics on abortion), it would seem that the death of all people is a goal they actually could see as a positive thing.

[weegee]

I’ve got to have a laugh about all of the “greenie weenie” communist kiddies.

Here they are pro-bike, pro-vegan (it’s better for the environment, you see), pro-abortion, anti-war for oil, pro—war for Palestine/Darfur/Zimbabwe.

But in the midst of all of this, they are also bringing back the spirit of hording records (made with plastics from “fossil” fuels) and have brought us a vinyl toy collecting boom. The anti-capitalists are actually quite materialistic and consumer minded.

They are unique just like everybody else.

And they waste oil. Just like those guys with the leaf blowers who would be more effective if they’d just use a friggin’ broom.