Haven't been here in a long time...

Time for a movie review! :)

I watched Wall-E finally last night... and I have to tell you, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had two thumbs up - both people with exquisite movie taste, both told me that I "HAVE TO SEE IT" - and a bunch of thumbs down. Consensus was, the movie was boring, had no story, and was a complete and total tree hugger movie. I respected the opinion of my two friends, but also wondered how a movie with so many negative reviews would be good at all. Either way, I figured it was time to watch it... that way, if I didn't like it, I could at least say I watched it. After watching it, here is my opinion: *clears throat* AHEM...

I LOVED IT. The movie was absolutely fantastic... it was beautiful in every sense of the word, an absolute visual treasure. The colors were sooooo vibrant!!

The movie was very visual, with most scenes sporting little to no speaking... but the dialogue was extremely thick. Wall-E's character was adorable - a robot, by himself, feeling the need to do his job. There was so much to take in with his character alone, much less when he was interacting with the other characters. He seemed so innocent, not understanding why he can't just do what he feels is right. I liked that about him.

I also really liked his love for E.V.E. Yes, he was a robot, but it was a Pixar movie, so there are going to be a few cutesy twists... and for the first time, I think Pixar finally got a love story in one of their movies! It was absolutely adorable, watching everything Wall-E did for E.V.E.! He loved her so unconditionally - no amount of abuse or hardship could be thrown at him that would make him leave her side, and all he wanted in return was to hold her hand, and make her happy.

The comedy was great - I think it was a relief to get a movie that was thick with hilarity, without relying on curse words or sexual innuendos or anything like that. It was all so physical - as a stage actor, I can appreciate that... we're always told to not only act with our personalities, but with our bodies as well. You need to be able to steal a scene without saying a thing - and Wall-E captured that through out the entire movie. Most of what he said was said with his body and actions... I found it very similar to Tom & Jerry. My dad and I always talk about how you can look back on Tom & Jerry and not realize that they never spoke... think about that. That show was on for so long with little dialogue - you just watched it. Wall-E is the same way, and I really like it. Sometimes it's not what you say - after all, don't we always say that actions speak louder than words?

The movie itself was very similar to Idiocracy (without the profanity) - a huge, corporate conglomerate owns the world, and we've become to reliant on technology to notice the world around us, and we've let Earth go. I can see how some would see that as a tree hugger point of view, but I honestly don't see it that way. I've said before that I don't like the fact that advances in technology are allowing us to become more and more lazy - and THAT'S what I think the movie is trying to get across. In one scene, a woman is flying around on her hover chair, and her "cell phone" gets turned off, and she gets to see the world around her for the first time, and I thought it was very well done. Extremely profound. To me, it wasn't saying "we have to prevent global warming and take care of trees and forget people protect nature," it was saying, "turn off the iPods and the cell phones and all of that and just look at what's around you." And it's not just about nature - it also shows how we're neglecting the relationships around us and becoming extremely self absorbed... the only thing important is what the newest thing is.

I really, really, really liked the movie, and I'm so glad I decided to watch it. I laughed, I cried, it moved me, Bob. I appreciated all the little things, like how E.V.E. said Wall-E's name, and vice versa. I implore all of you that haven't seen it to give it a chance - I'm not saying you'll love it, because clearly, plenty of people didn't, but at least check it out. Give yourself the chance to build your own opinion, instead of going with the crowd. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Oh and, say hi to your mother for me.

~Lauren