Big F*cking Waste...

...that's how the Earth was in the 22nd century--a planet overrun by unrecycled waste, it eventually became so polluted that it could no longer support life. In an attempt to keep humanity alive, the government's president sponsored a five-year exodus from Earth aboard a fleet of luxury starliners called The Axiom (with a fully-automated robot crew) that would support every need of the humans onboard. Hundreds of thousands of waste-disposal robots were left behind to clean up the planet by compacting the trash into cubes and stacking them into skyscraper-like towers for easy disposal. But by 2011, it was determined that the Earth was already way too toxic for the space-travellers to return...so everyone would have to stay in space and survive from within the space craft.

Or at least, that's how the movie Wall-E painted the picture of what Earth would be like.

It was a stretch, I know, considering the timelines and the feasibilities of space living/survival. But when you really think about it, at the rate things are going with global warming, greenhouse effect, la niña, widespread pollution, toxic levels, etc., it doesn't really take much to imagine it happening to Earth sooner or later.

The movie Wall-E is heartwarming, funny, novel, charming and light. Having watched the trailer and seeing posters and teasers some weeks ago, I had the initial assumption that this was going to be a "love story" between robots--if there ever was such a thing. (It stirred some form of nostalgia in me, calling upon high school memories of an 80s movie called "*Batteries Not Included", which likewise involved a "love story" between to supposedly inanimate objects.) But, having watched the movie in its entirety--twice, for that matter--I realize that the "love story" aspect of it just came as a bonus.

Wall-E, or Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class, is a dirty mechanical old-school tank-like prototype, and is one curious robot. He looks at certain garbage with inquisitive eyes and uses an approach akin to humans' sense of sentimental valuation. He is a hopeless romantic, left with nobody except for a friendly and obedient cockroach variety. He was the last WALL-E unit left roaming the Earth, and had been alone since the last waste allocator unit failed. That was until EVE came along. EVE, or Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, is a state-of-the-art, iPod-like skinned, and "sexy" robot. She does what she was programmed to do--to probe the Earth for evidence of life...and that's what all she was going to do. Having met Wall-E, however, changed all that. A friendship ensued, albeit shortlived as she had to be plucked out of the Earth and brought back to The Axiom for testing of her discovery (i.e. the living plant).

The "love story" of the two robots proved to be very refreshing. There were no words involved--no "i love yous" or "i missed you" or "will you be mine" or the likes. It was just love in its unadulterated state. Aside from love, the movie likewise showed a myriad of positive emotions: selflessness, sense of duty, commitment to the people, friendship and standing by each other, innocence, appreciation of beauty, inquisitiveness, hope, and taking care of others. This is one movie you would definitely want to take your kids to watch with you, and not some violent movie disguised as an animated featurette.

More than the love story/friendship angle, the environmental awareness feature of the movie was totally laudable. It was compelling--particularly the first few portions of the movie where the utter barrenness and emptiness of Earth was highlighted. The music of Thomas Newman particularly pummeled the almost-reality of such toxic and desolate world with its ominous sound and almost melancholic melodies by the orchestra. Showing how the human species had been leading sedentary, careless lives and being almost literally taken over by machines/computers was almost prophetic for me--it seems almost real that as early as this century, we are already living this kind of life. And again, this is the kind of movie that you would want to take your kids to, and take some quality bonding time by processing the lessons from the movie with them. Trust me, this will be your contribution to Mother Earth.

And although the plot seemed a wee bit slow to climax, it was well-worth the wait. I can't seem to imagine anybody going out of the movie theaters feeling short-changed. I'd give it two thumbs up...or raise whatever finger(s) EVE/WALL-E's got. Trust me, it's one of the more imaginatively made and individual pieces of work that the Pixar has developed. Pixar has completely outdone itself. They just keep getting better and better. And you thought Finding Nemo was their best so far. Of course, in saying that, a bunch of people might disagree...but, heck, this is MY review...so make your own. ;p

I'd like to just close this mini-review with that one line the Captain said to Control, "I don't want to survive. I want to live". That line was particularly incisive, you wouldn't expect that coming from a fat animated man.

For those who want ringtones and message alert tones from the movie, I've compiled a few in a WinRAR file, all in WAV and MP3 format. Click here to download. Share the love and forward it to your buddies. :-)