Wall-E: Science Fiction, Love Story, and Social Commentary to Boot

Before Wall-E came out, I'd heard from many people that there was little to no dialogue. How interesting can a movie be when the two main characters hardly speak at all?

As it turns out, the movie can be fascinating. The animators at Pixar did a wonderful job bringing Wall-E and his co-star, Eve, to life. The spoken word is unnecessary when so much is conveyed through body language and the tone of their quirky, incomprehensible speech.

Moreover, the movie weaves together elements of classic science fiction, romance, and social commentary into a terrific product. The movie is sweet and silly enough to appeal to children, yet it deals with grown up issues as well. A viewer of any age could see Wall-E and leave thoroughly satisfied.

Characterization Without Dialogue

The Pixar animators did a great job in fleshing out the characters of Wall-E and Eve. Neither of them speak more than a few words of English, yet their body language and tone more than make up for it.

Wall-E comes across as a quirky little fellow. He has apparently been at his job too long, and he goes through the same routine day in and day out. He is mighty lonely in his garbage-filled earth, so much so that he befriends a tiny insect.

Wall-E's work provides a glimpse into his personality. While collecting garbage and crushing it into compact blocks, he organizes the waste into giant skyscrapers. One of the initial scenes of the movie pans through a wind-swept city with enormous buildings made of garbage surrounding the old, traditional constructions. He is meticulate in his design, but also artistic and creative.

In the midst of this lonely work, Eve suddenly drops into Wall-E's world. She is everything he is not - tireless, impersonal, driven, and dangerous. She comes equipped with some kind of giant gun, and more than once Wall-E narrowly escapes getting blasted into oblivion.

Eve has been set to a task - intially unknown - and she sticks to it. Although she allows Wall-E to follow her around, and she visits is humble little storage facility, she never loses sight of her ultimate goal.

Both Wall-E and Eve are loveable characters, yet their mismatched personalities create plenty of humor for the movie. Their relationship is complex, and you can see it develop throughout the movie in their interactions, gestures, and body language. Theirs is a truly moving love story, and it feels authentic and real. Dialogue is most certainly unnecessary.

Science Fiction

Wall-E addresses one of the core themes of Science Fiction - artificial intelligence. What becomes of robots that are intelligent? Do they develop personalities, and will these make them deviate from their objectives?

Examples of classic science fiction abound - from i-Robot to 2001: A Space Oddysey. There seems to be a general fear of the possibilities of artificial intelligence. After all, robots are smarter, stronger, and faster than humans. What's to stop them from turning on their creators and taking over?

To some extent, Wall-E mirrors this fear. The second half of the movie contains several characters that seem to fit this mold. In one scene, a direct reference is made to Space Oddysey. The famous theme from Space Odyssey (taken from the classical piece 'Also sprach Zarathustra') plays out as a somewhat epic battle unfolds on screen. The reference to Dave and Hal is unmistakable.

Yet there is a lighter, happier side to this theme of the movie. Wall-E and Eve are both gifted with artificial intelligence, and perhaps more than any other robot in the movie they develop their own humane personalities. Instead of turning them into villains, these personalities turn them into heroes.

It is an intriguing reversal of this typical science fiction theme.

Social Commentary

The movie is also littered with commentary on 21st Century society.

For example, the Earth seems to have come under the rule of a single corporation - Buy 'n Large. It's CEO seems to fulfill the role of President of the World. This seems to be a fairly pointed reference to international corporations and non-governmental organizations which are becoming more and more important in international politics.

The main problem of the movie is that the Earth has become uninhabitable. Due to high levels of pollution - and in particular garbage - the atmosphere is toxic and the ground is literally covered in refuse. This immediately conjures the image of pollution and global warming. This theme also lingers throughout the movie - that if the earth is untended and not "taken care of," it can't be expected to thrive.

Finally, on board the space ship that Wall-E and Eve eventually end up on, every single human is obese. Without exageration, they are all moridly overweight. This clearly stems from their sedantery life-style - floating around a spaceship on hover chairs, hardly moving a muscle, permanently affixed to a holographic television screen, and constantly consuming liquid meals. However, it also seems to be a bit of a jab at American society, with its increasing problem with obesity.

In each instance, a real current issue is taken and developed to the extreme. What if multi-national corporations expanded to take over the entire world? What if global warming did get so bad that the earth was uninhabitable? What if we get even more lazy and obese?

Worth a View, or Two

Bottom line, Wall-E is definitely worth viewing.

It is a thoroughly entertaining movie, from top to bottom. The animation, as always with Pixar, is top notch. The movie hits on multiple themes - science fiction, romance, and commentary - so that it should appeal to everyone.

For children, there is the simple love and adventure story involving Wall-E and Eve. For the older audience, the movie does a wonderful job of reflecting some of the vices of our society onto the screen.