Short Circuit fans line up here. Yes, Wall-E shares the same expressive eye mechanics and the cute personality as the robot in the "Five Alive" films but the similarities end there. Although the original butterfly is replaced in this film with a pollution-resistant cockroach (nice!).
Actually, I took both my ten year old and my 16 year old to see this on Friday night and they both enjoyed it. Although the ten year laughed loudest and most frequently.
It's a bit slow to get going. Lonely Wall-E dutifully collects rubbish and crunches it into little cubes and builds skyscrapers from the millions of cubes. He gets a bit mixed up with what's useful and what's rubbish - e.g. throwing away a diamond ring and keeping the box. Or was that a comment about the state of marriage in today's society? And just how much did the makers of Rubik's cube pay on product placement to get that in the limelight again?
And then the story unfolds. All the people left the earth that they had filled up with rubbish (yet more pester power to kids urging parents to reduce, reuse and recycle)on a luxury space cruiser and several generations later they are still floating around in space. But the machines do their job so efficiently that the people are so grossly fat that they can hardly walk (watch your weight there kids!) and are ferried around on neat hover chairs. And they are so transfixed with their front-of-nose screens (watch how much time you spend glued to those screens kids!)that they don't even notice the environment around them - not even the pool that they are driven around. Very Brave New World/1984 when we see the babies in front of screens..
Yet from this space hotel they send out probe pods to search the polluted earth for signs of life. And Eve is the cute, white, streamlined robot who lands near Wall-E and gets his circuits heated. Although she nearly blasts him with her super guns to begin with (a comment on the aggressive nature of women in today's society?) she soon starts to appreciate his friendly ways and shares his taste in old fashioned movies with singing and dancing. And holding hands.
Should I tell you more of the plot? Perhaps not. But there is plant life involved and some excellent space dancing. And, of course, a very happy ending. Aaaahhh!
Actually, the short movie at the start about a rabbit and a magician was the bit we most loved and remembered - maybe they should do a longer version?
Anyway. Wall-E lives up to some of its hype. The younger kids will love it. Although parents may wince at the terribly politically correct "save the planet", "eat and exercise" and other nannying messages - and the repeated squeaky calls of WallE and Eve. But it is good, clean fun and a pleasant way to pass some time with the small people during the rainy summer holidays. And we all loved Wall-E.
:love:
Kids in London - Wall-E
KimT's London for Kids Blog
Posted Date
Jul 20, 2008 in KimT's London for Kids Blog by KimT
Jul 20, 2008 in KimT's London for Kids Blog by KimT