WALL*E = eh

We went yesterday to see Pixar’s newest offering — WALL*E.  I can tell you that everything the critics have said about it is true:  It’s amazingly beautiful, with animation of such sophistication that one is continuously impressed; and the story is imaginative and goes far beyond the usual children’s fare of screams and pratfalls.  It is, in other words, a critic’s delight.

However, I’m not a critic.  I’m just an ordinary gal going to the movie.  From that point of view, despite my wonder at the technical achievement behind the movie, the whole thing left me pretty cold.  The movie’s dystopian vision of people — we trash the earth and walk away, and then we become fat, brainless victims of overreaching corporatism — is scarcely an audience-friendly approach.  In addition, having two barely verbal robots as the movie’s romantic leads, while a cute conceit, simply doesn’t hold ones interest for very long.  WALL*E, the protagonist. is cute in an ET kind of way, but he’s a one trick pony — all he wants is the girl, and she’s not that interesting either.  For all that WALL*E is endearing, there’s no there there.

If you want to see a visually beautiful and creative movie, definitely check out WALL*E.  If you want to be entertained, I don’t know if this is the movie for you.