Sep 02, 2008 12:13 PM
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In the beginning, there was nothing. After creating the earth, animals, plant, rivers, etc, God fashioned man from the dust, and blew life into his nostrils. Then He created Eve.
He then planted a garden, and set the man there, “to work it and watch over it”. And there they remained till they ate the forbidden apple. Man, in his greed and hunger, left the earth with nothing. The Man, in His attempt to play God, created robots, dumped all His non-bio degradable trash on the garden called earth, effectively leaving the earth bereft of any vegetation.
He then left the earth for a settlement in universe, and left WALL-E units to clean up earth. Soon there was just one WALL-E left. The Man then sent EVE, to check the situation on earth.Thus met WALL-E and EVE.
The story is set in year 2700. Planet earth has long been uninhabitable, full of trash, minus any greenery, and is frequented by violent dust storms. WALL-E, pronounced Wally, and an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class is the last occupant.
The human beings have been whisked away by a multi national Buy n Large, to Axiom, a luxury starship. A rusty, run-down Wall-E, has worked over the centuries, compacting trash, and keeping precious knick knacks to stave off the boredom of his dreary routine.
These include a Rubik’s cube, a zippo lighter, a light bulb, an egg-beater, a bubble wrap, and a video cassette of some old Hollywood film, looking at which he learns to hold hands. Oh, his only companion so far is a (ahem), jolly, cute little twittering cockroach!! One day, Wall-E finds a tiny little plant sapling, little realizing that he has stumbled on the key to the survival of Earth. Unaware, he dumps the sapling along with his other treasures.
And so he would have toiled, long and hard, had it not been for Eve… EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) is a robot, sent to earth by Axiom, to verify whether humans can return to earth. Eve is everything Wall-E is not. She is a white, pristine, shiny egg shaped robot with the power to vaporize any object, quite scary. She floats above the ground, whereas our Wall-E treads the earth amidst the dust and trash. From the very beginning, he is smitten by this cutie pie (he calls her Evaaaa!!)
Eve, in turn, lets down her guard when he shares his treasures with her. You can almost see her softening towards Wall-E, when he, in an attempt to further impress his new found love, presents her with the plant sapling, which he has stored in a shoe. But as soon as she sees the plant, she rushes back to let the humans know about her discovery. But having been alone for so long, Wall-E cant bear the thought of losing the one friend he’s ever known, and clings to her rocket, to follow her , and hopefully bring her back from Axiom!!
Will Eve ever love Wall-E as he loves her? Will the humans come back to earth? Will earth ever flourish again, rejuvenate again? I can go on and on and on, but the movie needs to be seen, to be believed, understood, grasped, and taken to heart.
The first half hour of the movie is sans any dialogue, but somehow you don’t mind, as the rich visuals make up for any lack. In fact the impact is felt by the first image itself, Earth as a garbage dump, reduced to ruins. The first sound in the movie is a song from the old Hollywood movie Wall-E watches on VHS. Somehow, when Wall-E sees the romantic song/sequence, his binocular like eyes make you feel his loneliness; his yearning for a companion is so profound, you feel like reaching out and giving him a hug.
The way Wall-E and Eve correspond to each other, the way Wall-E communicates with audience, imparting worlds of information with his movements, expressions goes a long way to showcase the visual and animated prowess of the technicians.
The courtship (there's no other word for it), actually reminds you of your first love, an attraction of opposites. Wall-E is an old, battered, boxy creation, rusty, dented and clumsy as a rule, whereas Eve is cool and quiet, while she is not blowing things up. I, and I fervently hope that this is the only time I utter these words, found the cockroach adorable. When Wall-E is recklessly following the rocket in which Eve is leaving, and the cockroach tries to follow him, Wall-E makes it sit on a ledge, and gestures for it to stay. I cannot describe the companionship the two shared in that instant.
Finally, Andrew Stanton, the man who gave us “Finding Nemo”, has again managed to deliver a masterpiece, if not a cult classic. He has created a sci-fi movie in the garb of animation, a beautiful, haunting sci-fi movie, which retains its cuteness quotient. Without being pretentious or preachy, he reminds us to stop existing, and start living. He imparts a warning to the capitalists, to the developed nations of the world, who treat the rest of the world as their dumping grounds. And he imparts all these messages through two robots so cute, so guileless, so human, you feel like your heart might burst of joy.
Wall-E, with his binocular like eyes will look at you and touch your heart and soul, and might just leave you feeling poignant and a bit teary eyed, no matter what your age is. Go check it out guys!! Its more than worth it!!!
