Wall-E (MiceChat Reviews)

[composerboy]

Hiding behind such statements as: "That's one person's opinion!" and "This is a DISCUSSION forum.." after posting a largely unsubstantiated negative "review", especially a typically sour, nit-picking one is BEGGING to be challenged.

I'll bite.

First, I think this film has made a lot of people on this forum uncomfortable, and some of them have reacted to that feeling by attacking the "easy targets" in the movie. Personally, I think that's a good thing. If you are offended by the various messages in this film or the way humans are portrayed, you have a lot of soul-searching to do.

Clearly writer/director Andrew Stanton has spent more than a few hours at Disneyland in the company of the ECV-bound morbidly obese, and is as saddened and disgusted as I am.

This film directly challenges fat, lazy middle America that has become complacent and slovenly, and increasingly dependent and obsessed with technology convenience and consuming. It challenges people to examine their lifestyles and priorities, and begs you to open your eyes to the wonder around you.

Yes, this film includes a sub-plot of the Earth overcome with waste, and the morality and issues associated with that, but those issues are not the main point of the movie. I'm VERY far from being a tree-hugging hippie, but I got it, and I appreciated the sentiment, as it related to the larger story. I did not feel bludgeoned with the message of SAVE THE EARTH! It could have very easily strayed into "preachy" territory, but it didn't. It stuck to it's guns and delivered a variety of important messages wrapped up in a beat-perfect story with lovable characters (even the "villains" were likable), beautiful execution and more heart than anything I can remember seeing in recent memory. Additionally, some people need to get a grip on the concept of "homage" and learn to appreciate the in-jokes that are included in films like this. They are there to give you something to recognize and identify in an otherwise new and futuristic environment. Confounding audiences with all new technical whiz-bangery in a fast-paced film like this would be overwhelming to the point of distraction.

The shame and guilt you feel when confronted with these issues is real, but don't kill the messenger, look to yourself, and why you feel that way, and decide what you can do to make the necessary changes to change the feelings into action.

And to address those who were "bored" with the first act, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" comes out July 11. Enjoy.

[Goin2DL]

Originally Posted by JohnZ46

I also chuckled at the Mac chime. The other Mac connection is that Jonathan Ive, a designer at Apple, helped with EVE's design.

http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph..._wall_e_robot/

That's awesome - EVE looks like an Apple product, to funny!

[MickeyMania]

Originally Posted by composerboy

This film directly challenges fat, lazy middle America that has become complacent and slovenly, and increasingly dependent and obsessed with technology convenience and consuming.

Wha? People looked like people as recently as whenever the Earth got too toxic as the last message was sent. The reason the people were doing what they were doing was because they were suffering from information overload. Many of them had become so preoccupied with their own obsessions they didn't even recognize many of the luxuries on board like the pool.

They signed up for a five year cruise and got a lost in space journey that lasted generations. The moral is that people ultimately just want to go home, even if it's out of order and needs some TLC. Conditions on the ship were still much preferable to Earth, which is why the AI was so confused, because he didn't understand the emotional bond the humans had with their home planet. He was essentially trying to keep them sealed up in metal tupperware, with some adverse effects.

Even the robots are usually so busy doing what they're told to do. Like the thing punching buttons that meets WallE and learns to wave a claw. He could always do that, but he didn't know how to, because he just spent his life doing that one thing until someone came along and showed him that appendage has another use aside from button-pushing.

That's the theme. WallE and EVE have more personality than pretty much everything in the movie universe, and as they meet other robots as well as people they start becoming their own people again instead of just acting on hundreds of years of programming to just do what they always do.

[brad chowen]

Wall-E was a stunning--beautiful and amazing flick... with heart like all of PIXARS films....Wow....

[ChurroMan]

I think you guys are putting the pro-environmentalism and anti-consumerism messages way too much in the forefront. That was the B story to WALL-E and EVEs love story.

[Rapunzel]

Originally Posted by composerboy

Clearly writer/director Andrew Stanton has spent more than a few hours at Disneyland in the company of the ECV-bound morbidly obese, and is as saddened and disgusted as I am.

This film directly challenges fat, lazy middle America that has become complacent and slovenly, and increasingly dependent and obsessed with technology convenience and consuming. It challenges people to examine their lifestyles and priorities, and begs you to open your eyes to the wonder around you.

I think that you make very valid and well-stated points. That being said, I have to disagree a little based on other information. There was not a direct intention to point out the "fat, lazy middle American." In a press conference, Stanton stated:

"So I was talking to John Hicks, who was an advisor to NASA about long term residency in space, he told me that people are still arguing about how to correctly set up space shuttles so that when a human travels to Mars and back they won’t start losing their bones. Disuse atrophy kicks in if you don’t simulate gravity just right the entire time. It’s a form of osteoporosis. You won’t get it back. They’ve had arguments where people have said, “If we don’t get this right, they’re just going to be a big blob!” And I said, “Oh my gosh. That’s perfect!”

I didn’t want it to be off-putting. In a very early version, I actually went so weird I made the humans big blobs of Jell-O. I thought Jell-O was funny. They would just kind of wiggle and stuff. It was sort of a Planet of the Apes conceit where they didn’t even know they were humans anymore and they found that out. It was so bizarre that I had to pull back. I needed more grounding. So as I pulled back, I thought that I didn’t want it to be offensive. But if you didn’t have any reason to do anything any more, if everything had been figured out, and technology made it that easy to never get up – which is kind of happening with my remote in my living room – then it would set in. So I thought I’d make them big babies."

I'm sure Stanton's intentions were not to have viewers question their lifestyles and priorities. I am familiar with the sort of people that are working at Disney and Pixar in their animation departments. These are people that are talented at have had little time to sleep since getting out of high school. (When Pixar's greats come to speak with us at CalArts they tell us to get used to minimal sleep under our desks) Many of my fellow animators have pointed out that animators are usually very thin, very buff, but most usually.. very large. During such a conversation, one of my friends used Stanton as an example of a "normal person animator." But Andrew Stanton hasn't gotten much slimmer since he worked on Finding Nemo. In fact, when my fellow animation classmates and I went to Disneyland and watched the Andrew Stanton interview in the Animation Academy, the same friend exclaimed "O my god. Andrew Stanton got fat!" I'm sure Stanton has little time to sleep himself. Look at what the man has accomplished! Two gorgeous films going down in animation history!

That being said... instead of the animators at Pixar pointing out that American's "lifestyles and priorities" should be less on the "slovenly" side, I believe they were just intending the message that our lives should be full of their own purpose.

[BC_DisneyGeek]

Originally Posted by BC_DisneyGeek

I might be imagining things, but I thought I saw a Toy Story cameo amidst Wall-E's belongings.

I wasn't imagining it, Rex does make an appearance.

A list of all of the easter eggs in the film can be found here: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/27/wall-e-easter-eggs/

[tyler2cfhs]

boxofficemojo.com has announced that Wall-E grossed 62 million on its opening weekend. I understand that the weekend is not over yet but almost always they are within' 2 million of the actual. Thought you would like to know

[NeverNeverland]

Originally Posted by ChurroMan

I honestly hate people saying this film is boring.

God forbid Pixar tries something new and makes the audience think and feel rather than shove the screen with a bunch of colorful characters and watch them fall down the stairs while making references to 80s pop songs.

I feel bad for people who couldn't appreciate this film because they were too busy waiting for Buzz and Woody to come out rather than not have their questions answered and be in complete awe of the film.

Thanks for the personal attack.
And for the incrediblyy wrong assumption about me and others who are going against the majority on this. Please, don't spend too much time feeling bad for us

Originally Posted by Tui

I'm fairly certain that you didn't pay any attention to the movie.

Every single thing you brought up as a negative aspect of the movie either has an answer provided in the movie or is just flat out false or an incorrect assumption.

I'm fairly certain that I did pay a lot of attention to the movie.
Thanks for your helpful reply... maybe you could help answer my my questions or point out my wrong assumptions? That would be even more helpful!

Originally Posted by ashley solo

How was this movie boring?

Because nothing happened. The first part just didn't capture my attention. Finally Eve arrived and that was good. But after she ate the plant they spent too much time showing Wall-E taking care of her. i got it; I understood what he was doing. But I felt like they drug that part out way too long. It got better on the ship, but all that brought up so many questions! It just took forever for the story to unfold.

Originally Posted by composerboy

Hiding behind such statements as: "That's one person's opinion!" and "This is a DISCUSSION forum.." after posting a largely unsubstantiated negative "review", especially a typically sour, nit-picking one is BEGGING to be challenged.

I'll bite.

First, I think this film has made a lot of people on this forum uncomfortable, and some of them have reacted to that feeling by attacking the "easy targets" in the movie. Personally, I think that's a good thing. If you are offended by the various messages in this film or the way humans are portrayed, you have a lot of soul-searching to do.

Clearly writer/director Andrew Stanton has spent more than a few hours at Disneyland in the company of the ECV-bound morbidly obese, and is as saddened and disgusted as I am.

This film directly challenges fat, lazy middle America that has become complacent and slovenly, and increasingly dependent and obsessed with technology convenience and consuming. It challenges people to examine their lifestyles and priorities, and begs you to open your eyes to the wonder around you.

Yes, this film includes a sub-plot of the Earth overcome with waste, and the morality and issues associated with that, but those issues are not the main point of the movie. I'm VERY far from being a tree-hugging hippie, but I got it, and I appreciated the sentiment, as it related to the larger story. I did not feel bludgeoned with the message of SAVE THE EARTH! It could have very easily strayed into "preachy" territory, but it didn't. It stuck to it's guns and delivered a variety of important messages wrapped up in a beat-perfect story with lovable characters (even the "villains" were likable), beautiful execution and more heart than anything I can remember seeing in recent memory. Additionally, some people need to get a grip on the concept of "homage" and learn to appreciate the in-jokes that are included in films like this. They are there to give you something to recognize and identify in an otherwise new and futuristic environment. Confounding audiences with all new technical whiz-bangery in a fast-paced film like this would be overwhelming to the point of distraction.

The shame and guilt you feel when confronted with these issues is real, but don't kill the messenger, look to yourself, and why you feel that way, and decide what you can do to make the necessary changes to change the feelings into action.

And to address those who were "bored" with the first act, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" comes out July 11. Enjoy.

I posed my thoughts and opinions on, yes, a discussion board. It's not an attacking a person for having a different opinion board. It's a forum for dialog where people are allowed to have different opinions on things.

The movie didn't make me feel uncomfortable, offended, shameful or guilty at all. As I said in my post, I like the messages from the humans. They were the best part. So the rest of your post doesn't apply to me. I just didn't find the film appealing. It's my opinion. You obviously have strong opinions going the other way. It's all right - that's just human nature

And BTW, Journey to the Center of the Earth looks horrible. That's not even a movie to rent!

Originally Posted by DATman

If you had paid attention, most of your questions would have been answered.

To me, it feels like you spent the film questioning rather than searching for answers. This is a film that is not designed to spoon-feed everything to it's audience, which is part of its brilliance.

THANK YOU for trying to help me (and others) understand the movie more. You actually helped answer a few of my questions. I think I just didn't know what i was getting into with this movie, so when I had my first question I just kept on questioning him.

I think that i just didn't buy the main point - robots don't have feelings like humans, robots can't "fall in love", they don't have brains. And how in the end he was able to remember her after not... balderdash. Interesting how he got a new circuit board and was so productive. I guess

I just don't buy the entire concept and that's why I didn't like it. But it's ok - it's just a movie. Nobody likes EVERY movie!

[Villains Fan]

Just a reminder, this is a discussion board and while you may not agree with everyone's opinion, you are not allowed to attack them. Discussing why you disagree with their opinion is fine, but just attacking and discrediting their opinion is not.

[Earkid]

Two thumbs up for us. If I had more thumbs they'd be up too.

My 6 yr old nephew rarely sits still during movies (or at any time at all) and he was mesmerized by it. He laughed and would make comments out loud, talking to the screen and the characters. So cute. The fact that it held his attention through the entire thing was amazing.

I can't wait to see it again. I thought it was so well done.

[Browncoat]

AAAAAAAAAND back on topic.

i love Kevin Smith's review of the movie

Also in the Masterpiece Department, this s---...


If you haven't already peeped it, get thee to a theater. It's the ballsiest animated film ever made (right up there with "Persepolis", in terms of untraditional cartoons), yet it'll melt your heart. Seriously - Wall-E's so adorable, he makes E.T. look like Josef Mengele. Alright, maybe not Mengele, but at least Rudolf Hess. Y'know what? Let's drop the Nazi comparisons altogether and just leave it at this: Wall-E (the character) is adorable and "Wall-E" (the film) is a must-see.

[pveticket]

I haven't gone back and read everyones review, but my opinion was, Wall-E was an incredible movie that kind of pushed the barrier of what Pixar has done before.
It really was a fantastic movie, and I think everyone should go see it.

[aimster]

I haven't seen it yet. Planning on it next weekend. Didn't have time this weekend.

[pratt55]

I liked the movie but there were parts in it where I was bored. I too wanted to know what was up with the storms, not when they sent out the probes but when the dust storms would all the sudden hit? Why is there only one bug left? If Wall-E can repair himself then why couldn't the other Wall-E machines do the same and wouldn't there be more? Why did the humans on the ship not know that there was a pool? How were there babies when it seemed like all the humans were all so self-involved and I did not see any couples until the two that met Wall-E took off their stereo sets?

Do I expect answers for these questions, Nope. I'll just have to watch the movie again to see if I can figure it out. IMO Toy Story was a much better movie but Wall-E was entertaining.