Ambitious and melancholy. Not the first two words that automatically spring to mind when describing a children's animated movie. But Salon's review of the movie by Stephanie Zacharek nails the movie with those two adjectives.I took the spawn Friday afternoon to see this and I swear he had tears in his eyes at several points. Not only is the loneliness and isolation of the little trash-compacting robot WALL-E palable, making even an almost three-year old grasp the melancholy aspect, but the movie milks it with little dialogue and a subdued range of colors. The eyes of this sad little creature brim with emotion and the comfort he takes in his collection of knick knacks, from garden knomes to Rubik Cubes to lighters is a small solace for what he really desires—companionship and touch.
He gets both when Eve, another robot, is sent to Earth, which by the way has been abandoned by humans and looks like a technological wasteland befitting Mad Max. And that is when the ambitious nature of the movie kicks in. The pro-taking-care-of-our-Earth stance of this movie is inescapable and the film's vision for what we are evolving into (blobs unable to walk, transported by hovering chairs that keep us unaware of our surroundings by a constant flow of information on a computer screen and liquid food on demand) is enough to scare even the laziest among us into the gym and out to plant a flower.
This is not your typical kiddie fare. I recommend young and old check it out.
2 comments:
really? ugh. my kids are clamouring to see it and frankly i have no interest whatsoever. skadoosh bear--loooooovvved it and i now want to be a panda. i was excited to go see that one. but this? i dread it. i don't cozy up to robots well anyway but i'm sure i'll end up going to see this one too. i'll let you know what i think.
don't tread it, he is really a loveable little thing and so lonely and sad it is heartbreaking.
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