The sanest Wall-E review on tvt.
Why thank you, good sir! I'm honored to have it called that.
I really disagreed. You seem to want more time to something the plot of the film does not quite have time for, and isn't the point. Some of the things you mentioned can be inferred easily.
If anything, the A-113 directive was actually something out of Auto's character. EVE and WALL-E are his foil. Whereas Auto follows an (outdated) protocol without questioning, WALL-E and EVE eventually learn to break out of their sense of directive in favor of emotions. Also, Auto is not an evil character if you give it a thought.
Also, I think you missed the point of the film. The movie itself is about love. The "second climax" at the end, you know what I'm referring to, that's the true sum up of the movie. Not the environmental theme. That's only on the side.
You seem to want more time to something the plot of the film does not quite have time for... Why didn't it have time for it? The movie's pretty short; it's only 98 minutes. Meanwhile The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Cars were at least 111 minutes. I thought the film felt quick when I watched it. And the ruined Earth setting was pretty fascinating. I partly wanted more of it because the Axiom, by comparison, wasn't nearly as interesting inside.
... and isn't the point. Films can have more than one point. If the post-apocalyptic Earth setting wasn't important, they could set the movie anywhere else without problem, if it were just the love story.
If anything, the A-113 directive was actually something out of Auto's character. But he didn't invent the directive, nor the applicable actions. It doesn't make sense that he would obey it and still let probes be sent to Earth. And the film never explains why WALL-E and EVE became sapient, but AUTO didn't.
I think you missed the point of the film. The movie itself is about love. Never said it wasn't. Likewise I never said the movie's point was solely an environmental theme. Where did I mention it? I don't really see how your point is relevant.
(sorry about the bump)
A-113 was the product of a desperate and scared politician trying to save people the only way he knew how. The WALL-E project was (implied to be) a failure, which probably means that everything else he and his company tried had also failed. And he was shortsighted enough to truly believe, "We've done everything we can, but we just couldn't save it." Either he believed, or he was trying to sell, the viewpoint that even if the probes worked, Earth could not possibly be saved, because he had already tried everything.
AUTO was probably in a contained enough environment that he had no reason to develop a personality beyond "Follow directives". Thus, he sent out the probes (because that's what he was told to do), and when one brought back a plant, he implemented A113 (because that's what he was told to do). If there's one constant between all of the artificial intelligence in WALL-E, it's that they always do what they're told to do by a human. (This is predicated on some fanwank, but it's a theory that makes sense in my head.)
Please don't mistake this comment for hating on the review - on the contrary, it's well thought out and written interestingly and concisely. I just think Pixar had a reason for writing it the way they did.
Certainly I don't think you're hating my review! There is plenty of difference between hating a review and debating with it. Thanks for commenting.
Interesting, I guess the CEO really could have been that hopeless. But couldn't they have simply programmed AUTO to fake the launch of probes to keep the captain appeased? Or just told him to launch probes but then have them self destruct as soon as they were out of range of the ship's tracking? It seems pretty pointless to order searches for another seven centuries if you don't expect them to ever pick up anything, or don't even want them to.
I agree, it does seem pointless. My justification, based on my analysis of the CEO's character, is that he really was shortsighted enough to believe that every probe sent would fail. His rationale for continuing to send the probes would be something along the lines of, "Let's not rock the boat, let's just keep them doing what they've been doing and not scare anyone."
It probably would have made more sense for A113 to be an order to just stop sending the probes after fifty or so years, though.
Which means the movie never would have happened. Darn.
" How did WALL-E develop a personality? Okay, the trailer implies a long period of gradual conditioning, but the film never says that. It's also never explained for EVE or MO as well. Why did they get personalities, but others like the police bots didn't? Just tipping the Axiom a bit makes everyone slide? Why would the ship's gravity work that way? Why is Directive A113 still letting probes be sent? Just one non-human plant means a whole host of humans can now survive there? Why are satellites still in orbit? Why does WALL-E not lose power except when it's plot convenient? "
Three words: It's a cartoon.
That is the worst answer that one could give. Taken to its logical conclusion, it basically amounts to: "never ask any questions about any plot of any movie ever, because it's a movie." We have a Headscratchers section on this site for a reason.
It's fine to think about a film, animated or not, and whether the events within such make any sense.
I loved WALL-E when I saw it, and while I agree that in some cases it'd be better to sort of roll with it, I really appreciate Tucker's review for not vaguely bashing the movie and offering actual points to their argument, and being very nice and accepting in the comments. If it didn't work for them, then it didn't work - and that's okay.
Thanks dude. I appreciate you saying that.
Leave a Comment:
Good, but a film that limited itself.
I enjoyed WALL-E, but I think it could have been better if it had just decided to take its time a little more. The movie went at a pretty quick pace, which caused it to zoom past some of its best moments in its hurry to keep up with the plot.
For instance, the time spent on Earth was very brief. We get the first day where we see WALL-E work, EVE arrives on the same day, they meet up in the evening, she shuts down and they're both gone a day later. But I had enjoyed the Earth parts the best, because they were simpler, and the setting was more fascinating, with lots of relics, and ripe for exploring the ruins of humanity. Compare the Axiom, which pretty much looked like the same white walls everywhere inside. There may have been some cooler stuff in the ship, but again the plot shot right past them.
The latter half of the film also felt like it degenerated into a chase. Looks like it's now time to go to Earth. Whups, the evil AUTO is putting obstacles everywhere to keep you from doing that. Time to go through all the obstacles. Dash, punch, lift, off switch, etc. The earlier parts of the film had a lot more depth to them, but since the objective now was so simple, the obstacle course of the film's second half felt far too shallow.
The film also left A LOT of plot holes that I thought it would cover, but never addressed. How did WALL-E develop a personality? Okay, the trailer implies a long period of gradual conditioning, but the film never says that. It's also never explained for EVE or MO as well. Why did they get personalities, but others like the police bots didn't? Just tipping the Axiom a bit makes everyone slide? Why would the ship's gravity work that way? Why is Directive A113 still letting probes be sent? Just one non-human plant means a whole host of humans can now survive there? Why are satellites still in orbit? Why does WALL-E not lose power except when it's plot convenient? And why does Directive A113, which believes that Earth is uninhabitable, require suppressing all evidence that Earth is habitable even though said plan going into action would mean THAT EARTH IS HABITABLE? This sort of plot glossing over carried over to Up as well, and severely diminishes the film's quality.
There was still plenty of good things, like WALL-E's pluckiness. I just wish the film hadn't limited them.