Wall-E (Movie Review)
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In his epic third installment of the Mars series, director Michael Bay returns to the themes that have defined the Cars films up to this point. With a plot that revolves around the slippery slope of greed and self-interest caused by Artificial Intelligent computers, Wall-E gives us the perfect storm of emotions that we have come to expect from the Cars films. However, instead of the usual formulaic action, special effects, and car chases we have come to know and love from Bay's past movies, the movie focuses more on the philosophical underpinnings of man and his relationship to technology.
In this film, Michael Bay gives us another look into the lives of a typical family man and his wife. Despite its constant presence of funny events and dialogue, the real theme of Wall-E conveyed a much darker tone. As the story unfolds, we see that the husband is starting to distance himself from his wife and is even considering leaving the planet he lives on so that he can spend more time with his "son", the android robot Wall-elf. The storyline happens in the near future, in a near future where humans have completely taken over consumerism and technology, completely taking away free will and democracy. When a character named Carl Weathers (LOIS LANZ), who is an average person out to make a living selling recycled goods begins to construct a massive walled complex for the purpose of researching anti-aging materials, a shoot out between the human race and android hell spawn arises which leads to the destruction of the complex and the death of Wall Elf.
Although the death of Wall-E was one of the most talked about scenes in the trailers, one of the more interesting things I took away from this movie was how little we knew about the plot and the philosophy behind the artificial intelligence being built by the race of robots. Having said that, the subject matter does not really get into depth enough to provide much insight other than the premise of the film uses as the basis for the robots. The importance of the existence of Wall-E at the time cannot be understated because it acts as a gateway to the future of mankind. With the help of the android robot, humans are able to colonize the moon and take over the earth. Overall, Wall-E is a pretty entertaining and thought-provoking film that highlights the incredible potential that we all have with our technology.
