Wall-E is an achievement for many reasons. But Wall-E is not perfect. And honestly, I think Wall-E is quite overrated.
I'll start with the good: The CG is revolutionary. Our two mostly-speechless heroes (essentially a rolling square and a floating circle) are the most likable on-screen duo in recent memory. Their romance is believable and endearing, and any time they're interacting with each other the movie is a 10. The film's first 45 minutes are positively enchanting.
Unfortunately, as soon as the pair leaves Earth everything stops clicking.
In the second 2/3rds of the movie, the storyline stops focusing on the romance and starts zig-zagging between what seems like 5 or 6 barely-related sub-plots. During all this unfocused side-story hopping the writers somehow forget to include a MAIN story of any consequence. This is a serious problem.
Secondary characters are introduced, then dropped, then reappear an hour later to overcome some obstacle that clearly only existed to give them something to do. So why introduce them? A villain appears about half-way through the movie, paired with a human hero who will be inevitably tasked to defeat him. But the villain is non-threatening and the hero is under-developed and unbelievable, and when his triumph finally comes it feels anti-climactic and forced.
The various "sub-plots" should really be described as "sub-points," since they're all transparent vehicles for social/political messages. Upwards of 4 different morals are bandied about, but the writers don't seem particularly passionate about any of them and don't devote more than 5 minutes to any single topic. The Incredibles, Ratatouille and even Happy Feet are all examples of how to marry a moral to a plot without diminishing either. Wall-E is an example of how not to.
In the end, I can't shake the feeling that Pixar took a simple, beautiful movie about robot romance and environmental caution, and crammed in two metric-tons of unnecessary, half-baked fluff. As a huge Pixar fan I have to say: they're better than that.
Sorry Pixar. I still love you.
I'll start with the good: The CG is revolutionary. Our two mostly-speechless heroes (essentially a rolling square and a floating circle) are the most likable on-screen duo in recent memory. Their romance is believable and endearing, and any time they're interacting with each other the movie is a 10. The film's first 45 minutes are positively enchanting.
Unfortunately, as soon as the pair leaves Earth everything stops clicking.
In the second 2/3rds of the movie, the storyline stops focusing on the romance and starts zig-zagging between what seems like 5 or 6 barely-related sub-plots. During all this unfocused side-story hopping the writers somehow forget to include a MAIN story of any consequence. This is a serious problem.
Secondary characters are introduced, then dropped, then reappear an hour later to overcome some obstacle that clearly only existed to give them something to do. So why introduce them? A villain appears about half-way through the movie, paired with a human hero who will be inevitably tasked to defeat him. But the villain is non-threatening and the hero is under-developed and unbelievable, and when his triumph finally comes it feels anti-climactic and forced.
The various "sub-plots" should really be described as "sub-points," since they're all transparent vehicles for social/political messages. Upwards of 4 different morals are bandied about, but the writers don't seem particularly passionate about any of them and don't devote more than 5 minutes to any single topic. The Incredibles, Ratatouille and even Happy Feet are all examples of how to marry a moral to a plot without diminishing either. Wall-E is an example of how not to.
In the end, I can't shake the feeling that Pixar took a simple, beautiful movie about robot romance and environmental caution, and crammed in two metric-tons of unnecessary, half-baked fluff. As a huge Pixar fan I have to say: they're better than that.
Sorry Pixar. I still love you.