I liked WALL-E, but I didn't love it. Saying that makes me feel like I just walked in a room and kicked a puppy. The love for this movie among critics and friends is overwhelming, I'm just waiting for someone to ask, "Jonathan, why do you hate love?" It's a good movie, a very good movie; Pixar's perfect record remains intact, but I just wasn't able to connect with it enough to really love it.The visuals in the film are spectacular, in fact, I'd say this might be the best looking Pixar movie yet. The characters of WALL-E and EVE were great characters, and I find I came away with a special affection for MO, the cleaning robot. The character problem I had was with the humans. I really just didn't care about any of them and the screen time spent with them felt like a waste; time I'd rather be spending on the robots' story. The story itself was fun, but I felt like I was two minutes ahead of the plot at every twist and turn, no surprises whatever. That made it hard for me to fully engage with the story. That's not to say it's a bad story, I thought the love story between WALL-E and EVE was very sweet and charming, and the basic story form here is a classic one for a reason, but there was nothing to really wow me. In the end, the movie just didn't feel complete to me, like there was more to the story to tell and that I'd just gotten the Cliff's Notes version. Like a snack when I was looking for a meal; it was very enjoyable, but not completely satisfying.
I must reiterate, I did like the movie; how could anyone with a heart not like it? I'm just not as over-the-moon for it as everyone else seems to be and the above negativity was just me trying to explore why. If I'd hated the movie I doubt I'd spend this much time thinking about it.
The movie was preceded by a short "Presto". That, I did love. A great bit of slapstick goodness more in line with the old Warner Bros. tradition than Disney.
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Yes, the short was great and fun. :) But Jonathan, why do you hate love? There, I said it. Thank you for putting words to what I was thinking the other day when you said you didn't "love" WALL-E.
ReplyDeleteYour points are well taken. The humans aren't well developed, although the captain inches that way. But there's only so much you can do in movie-length time, and WALL-E was the focus. I thought the time spent establishing his loneliness was well spent and even key, but that meant there was less for everything else.
Oh, the time on Earth is good stuff. I agree WALL-E was the focus, that's why every time we took our eyes off of him I felt like we were wasting precious screen time. The poigniancy of his lonelyness and the perfect innocence of his love for EVE were very well done, I agree.
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