茶碗蒸

This, is a masterpiece. There’s simply no other way to describe it.

With the amazingly smooth 3-D animation that has become universally associated with Pixar, the gorgeous soundtrack which brought out the desired mood of each scene, the original and heart-warming plot which Dreamworks has failed to come up on numerous occasions and even attempted to copy (cough cough!), and the depth the film possessed despite it’s target audience being potentially children (which, I cannot emphasize enough, is not true – at least I have always believed the fact that Pixar and Disney animated films are suitable for all ages; they have somehow never failed to include both the innocent humour and the more mature touch.) – Wall-E easily lives up to most people’s expectations from the most famous animation studio of all time.

As most of you are probably already aware of – I am a huge Disney fan. So if you think this review is slightly – or very – prejudiced then I am afraid you are right, and why shouldn’t I be? Disney has claimed almost every single Best Animation award in the history of the Academy Awards so there must be a reason for it. A very good reason… okay, let’s not ramble on about all the marvels of Disney just yet (we’ll be here for centuries I swear), so I’ll start at a reasonable place – when I walked into the cinema.

The Dunedin Rialto Cinema is much more luxurious than any I’ve been to in New Zealand. It had a quiet sense of age, and that gave me a sophisticated impression as I waited patiently in line to collect my ticket (the old couple in front of me took forever to get their family ticket sorted out, and took even longer buying ice-cream for their grandchildren yelling enthusiastically over the snack counter). I have to admit I felt positively ancient as I charged up the dim stairwell leading to the four cinemas on second floor – and wondered for a brief moment what I was doing there mingling with all the kids and their guardians. But nothing could possibly repress any of my own excitement to see this long-anticipated annual Disney feature animation, so it was not hard to smile pleasantly along with the other young audiences as we strode into the theatre without having had our tickets checked (there was no staff at the entrance – caused quite a bit of confusion). And when I laid my eyes upon the interior of the cinema, I gaped. I had no idea it was that big!! The rows of seats were even wider than the Warner Bros village in Taipei… and the screen was massive, of course. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to watch Disney!

So with intense anticipation and tingling happiness, the film began. Although I didn’t fall instantly in love with it – the beginning was grey and gloomy. Shots of starry constellations and planets, and then focusing on Earth itself – a planet so polluted with rubbish that the continents no longer appeared green, but a murky brown. In fact, Wall-E himself didn’t appear for so long that the kid behind me was starting to wonder aloud “Where’s Wall-E?”… although I wouldn’t consider that of any significance since he wondered about anything and everything throughout the entire film (felt like strangling him by about half-way through… but I give full respect to his dad, who patiently whispered an explanation to him every single time).

The animation was flawless, as always. I loved how Pixar managed to capture the characteristic motion of everything – from the limited mechanical movements of robot limbs to the subtle flicker of cockroach legs. Especially when the film used so little dialogue and relied so much on general body language and personal interpretation. The effect was simply marvelous. And the beautiful soundtrack, of course, has to be given credit to for the atmosphere different parts of the film portrayed. The melancholy sections had the strongest impact on me – and there were quite a few of those in this particular animation. Right from the beginning when Wall-E entered the scene accompanied by what sounded like a 60’s kind of song, with a retro beat and fuzzy old-fashioned quality, and then the scene when Wall-E was nearly crushed by the waste allocation load lifter on Axiom and Eve discovered his burnt circuit board (at which I cried ==), to the silence towards the end of the film when Wall-E lost his memory and Eve was attempting to call him back (there’s my second tear-shed moment)… there were many scenes I felt a painful bang in my chest for, and the music and sound effects definitely played a vital role in that.

The plot… what can I say? One would often wonder just how many geniuses exist in Pixar – from bugs to fish, cars to rats, and now robots. And not just any robot – a robot that had been left by the humans to clean up after their mess while they retreated to a spaceship miles away in space to wait for the day when Earth would return to being inhabitable again. A robot who became the key to the revival of mankind, and the union of technology and humans. A robot who developed a warm affection for another robot, Eve (who I could not help but adore – her voice and eyes were too cute!! In fact… all of the robots eyes and voices were splendidly done), who came to understand and return the care and kindness Wall-E showed for her. The humour intercepted at various intervals were wonderfully done - the parts where I loved the most were the scenes when Wall-E first "got out of bed" and bumped into the wall then drowsily struggled to put on his tracts, the part when Wall-E accidentally squashed his cockroach and let out a horrified scream, and the part when Wall-E was trying to show Eve all the magnificence of mankind tools... they were absolutely hilarious (I felt like an idiot chuckling to myself in the dark). To tell the truth, I was not expecting very much when I walked into this movie in terms of an intriguing plot – since sci-fi and futuristic storylines are generally not my cup of tea. Especially after last year’s Ratatouille, which dealt largely with living animals and humans and – my favourite – food. Yet I was astonished at the magnificent structure of the film as it unfolded before me… so much creativity, humour, and heart-wrenching twists… I had underestimated Pixar’s ability to cater for all types of audiences, even those who had shamefully thought they knew what this film would be about – like me.

The message Wall-E communicated to the audience was a brilliant one. Not only is it a vitally warning to the present world regarding pollution, but also a reflection of the modern society’s growing reliance on the use of technology. It was all I could do to refrain from clapping my hands together in admiration for Pixar and its talent for addressing current issues when I saw the scene illustrating the daily life of mankind in the future – obesity, lack of exercise, “doing nothing”. The people in the spaceship retreat simply sat on floating chairs which moved about according to their will, and everything they ever desired could be easily ordered by the buttons on the arms of the chair or by oral cue. It was all so true. I mean, even now the problem of obesity has become a major global issue so such a prediction was only too likely to happen in eight hundred year’s time. I especially loved how the humans were described to have suffered from “a slight bone loss” and the x-ray diagrams were shown of progressive replacement of bones by fat. So clever. And the pollution issue – how the whole film basically revolved around the miracle of a single green sprout and its role of proving Earth was again habitable. And how all humans aboard the ship had come to forget the beauty of mother nature – it was no doubt a reflection of the fast-paced present society and a reminder to pause, admire, and preserve the little natural environment left on our planet. The over-reliance on technology as well – how the evil party ended up being machinery, the “auto-pilot” was a wonderful touch. There were also many other fantastic morals, of course, and the one I think touched me was the continuous hint of Wall-E’s desire to hold Eve’s hand – a motif of love which finally became the key to retrieving Wall-E’s memory. It was an extremely emotional moment and it must have resonated with most audience’s soul – for it certainly touched me to the core.

So in the end, I think the conclusion is obvious enough – go see it. Support it, laugh with it, shed tears for it… it may come easier than you expect. Trust me… it is more than worthwhile.