Plot summary (with possible spoilers): In the year 2110, rampant consumerism has resulted in the Earth being so completely covered in garbage and toxic waste that it could no longer support life. Human beings were then forced to float through space on a massive ship for the next 700 years, becoming so fat and weak from this sedentary life (and the effects of microgravity) that they are little more than squishy blobs.
The only being left on the planet is WALL-E (voiced by Ben Burtt), an unsophisticated robot whose task is to compact trash. We soon see that WALL-E is not a typical robot, however. He seems to have feelings and emotions, which are heightened when he watches old videotapes of the musical Hello, Dolly!. It’s clear that WALL-E is lonely, and longs for a companion that he can love and hold hands with.
He gets that opportunity when a new robot, called EVE (Elissa Knight), is dropped off by a spaceship. Her directive is to see if there’s any plant life on Earth, which would indicate that it has rejuvenated itself sufficiently to support humans again. WALL-E falls instantly in love with EVE, but she treats him as a nuisance. After finding a single seedling, EVE’s mission is finished and a spaceship comes back to pick her up. WALL-E can’t bear to see her go, so he latches on and follows her to the floating human carrier craft that EVE came from.
Captain McCrea (Jeff Garlin) sees the plant that EVE brings back, consults his manual, and realizes that this means humans can finally go back to Earth. But the Autopilot computer doesn’t want to comply because this would mean the end of its reign aboard the ship. Therefore, AUTO steals the plant and tries to get rid of WALL-E and EVE. Fortunately, WALL-E and EVE are able to save the day, eventually leading the humans back to Earth where they can begin a new civilization.
My Reaction: Despite all the positive reviews from professional critics and its Oscar win for Best Animated Film, I never had any real desire to see WALL-E. It just didn’t look like something I would enjoy. But last weekend my son wanted to rent it, so I figured I might was well watch it with him. I should have heeded my intuition on this one.
While there were definitely some enjoyable parts in the film, I felt that it was more boring than not. There was zero dialogue in the first 30 minutes, just a bunch of sound effects and robot beeps. When EVE came on the scene, she and WALL-E said each other’s names. That was it. Most people hailed this as some sort of ingenious way to show how desolate Earth had become, but I found it nothing short of tedious. I was falling asleep.
In addition, I thought the plot was kind of dumb. I guess it’s hard to hold an animated film to any kind of “real life” standards, but still. There were just so many things that didn’t make sense or that simply wouldn’t happen. For instance, why was Captain McCrea so intent on getting “back” to Earth? He kept calling it “home” even though no one on board had ever been there. That spaceship was their home, not Earth. Also, why would the planet be overrun by garbage in the first place? Consumerism has been around for a couple thousand years already and we seem to be doing ok. Why would things change so drastically by 2110?
I had other problems with the film as well, including the whole love story between WALL-E and EVE. Call me cynical, but I thought it was just dumb to have these robots supposedly feeling emotions and falling in love. I find that creepy rather than cute — though I guess I’m in the minority here. Also, I thought the blobby, squishy humans were disgusting. I could barely keep my eyes on the screen whenever those characters were front and center.
Overall, I can’t understand why WALL-E received such raves from nearly everyone who saw it. I’ve loved many other Pixar films, but this one doesn’t even come close to being on the same level. I give it 2 stars out of 5.