What Makes "Wall·E" Great.

One of the most profound and mature films in Pixar's Libary, Wall·E is another example of Pixar's ability to balance family-friendly aspects with very adult themes and messages. Along with its terrific use of the science fiction genre, Wall·E may be Pixar's best film ever.

Set hundreds of years into the future, Earth has become overly polluted becoming a giant landfill. Humanity has long since left Earth living cleaning robot Wall·E as the only one to clean up the planet. One day Wall·E encounters and falls in love with another robot named EVE, a scout sent by humanity to scan the planet and see if it's habitable again. After finding a plant and boarding her vessel, Wall·E follows her against her wishes, and they become involved in a race to save humanity.

The thing that makes the film work is Wall·E himself. The first 30 to 40 minutes contain almost no dialogue as it puts us into Wall·E's world. Wall·E despite having few words is full of personality and is capable of generating a variety of human emotions and expressions. We see this during the opening sequences where we see his daily routine. He works till dusk cleaning trash and collecting any artifacts he is fascinated by. His home

that he shares with his one companion Cockroach is the back of a large truck consisting of various human trinkets. His most prized possession is a VHS copy of the classic musical "Hello Dolly". We see the things that drive Wall·E, his work ethic, curiosity, and a sense of loneliness. It's when his love interest EVE arrives on earth that we really see the extent of Wall·E's human emotions. His love and devotion to EVE as he chases her through the universe is what makes you fall in love with Wall·E, making you both laugh and cry throughout the film.

As great as the first half is with its ability to convey emotion with little dialogue, the second half is just as impressive with its dark look of humanity. In the hundreds of years since humidity left earth, they have let AI and mass consumerism control them. Every one of them is overweight to the point that they require electric chairs to help move around. They even have screens to talk to each other when they are next to each other to avoid moving their heads. Their leisure activities are all virtual and even the captain of the ship has his AI pilot AUTO perform all the ship tasks. It's a disturbing idea that preaches the dangers of becoming a slave to technology. This grip that AI has on humidity is what leads to the film's most important message. Technology isn't going to save us, it's the human condition that will, more specifically, love. The ironic part of all this is that it takes a robot to show this message. It's Wall·E's love for EVE that sets in motion many of the events that happen throughout the film. Those events lead to humanity's salvation as they learn that only they can save themselves.

Wall·E has transcended to not only being one of Pixar's most provocative films but one of the best science fiction movies in the last 20 years. It's a film with a strong message of a potentially bleak future, but a hopeful one as well.