Movie Review: WallE (2008)

Pixar continues to deliver hit after hit, year after year. It seems the only constants in life are death, taxes, and Pixar movie releases. The latest movie from Pixar was WallE, a critical and financial success on all levels of the box office. Go ahead and send the gold statue named Oscar to Pixar now for Best Animated Film.

WallE first started getting attention last summer with the release of a teaser trailer. As time went on the trailer got bigger and left people salivating for more. WallE released on June 6h and to date has garnered over $128 million dollars. Not bad for three weeks.

Rotten Tomatoes lists WallE at a very impressive 96%. For those of you not familiar with how Rottentomatoes.com (RT) works here's an explanation. RT takes all the critics and lumps them into favorable or unfavorable reviews. Then RT takes those numbers and converts them to percentages, with higher being better. It is rare that a popular film boasts higher than 90%. Keep in mind that the percentage is often a compilation of all the best critics not just some dork on the Internet writing a review... (hmmmm)

The movie follows WallE a lovable trash recycling robot, seemingly the only thing still functioning on Earth. For now it is safe to assume WallE is a thing because as the movie continues you want to lump him in with the word person. WallE's only function on Earth is to collect trash on an over-polluted and deserted planet and compress it into neat cubes using his body. He then stacks these cubes into skyscrapers of trash. It's safe to say life is pretty boring for WallE, seeing how he's been doing this for hundreds of years.

During these long years alone, WallE has developed somewhat of a personality. He routinely collects interesting artifacts in his lunch pal and brings them home to his little base. I forgot to mention that WallE isn't really alone. He does have one friend, a cockroach who hangs out with WallE and eats Twinkies.

Life is pretty uneventful for WallE until one day a spacecraft lands and deploys EVE, a female robot who makes WallE swoon right from the get go. The only problem is that EVE is still a robot and not very affectionate. After searching and searching EVE becomes disgruntled and upset when WallE gives her the gift of life, quite literally. He hands EVE a plant that he found during his rummaging. That causes her to shut down and wait for the return ride back.

WallE ends up stowing away for the amazingly beautiful trip back to EVEs home, a super spaceship holding the remaining people from Earth. These humans are perhaps a glimpse into the future, as they are all overweight and absorbed into the computers that do everything for them. They float around on little hover chairs constantly glued to the TV.

But there is hope. As WallE courts the robot of his dreams he forces (by accident) the humans to realize that there is truly no place like home. The movie ends on a great note and I don't want to give too much away but you may just tear up with happiness.

WallE is a great movie for all ages, not just children. The animation is superior to anything out there. The story is unparralled to even live action films. The messages brought on by this film could, quite possible, lead to the first animated film being nominated as Best Film during the Oscars next year. The story telling is remarkable and the wholesomeness of the film is mind-boggling. If you have not seen WallE then I suggest that you close this window and catch the next showing. Better yet, pick up a relative or a friend and see it together because this movie truly deserves to be shared.