GC Movie Review - WALL*E

By Rhonda Ridley

Please, allow me to share a quirky experience I had at the screening the other day. I knew that when I was asked to screen this movie, I’d like it, but when I attempted to do research on it, the tag line, “A robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for” drew me in. Primarily because I believe that’s what we do (I‘ve done it) in our very own lives; we work in jobs that we don’t like, we settle in relationships that are not righteous and sometimes, we even busy ourselves with God’s work only to miss God’s true appointed purpose for us. So, in the end, what have we really accomplish?

It was after reading the tag that I decided not to view anymore information on the film. I wanted it to be a pleasant surprise. I did, however, see the trailer on TV and thought WALL*E was adorable. Well, when I arrived at the screening, there was a cardboard version of WALL*E right outside the theater we were scheduled to screen in. From somewhere a squeal, much like a child, came out of my body. I remember hearing myself say, “I want it, I want it. It’s so adorable, I have to have it and take it home.“ Laugh all you like, but believe me, when you go to the movie and you see the cut out, (it looked so real) your reaction will be the same. Embarrassing, but true and I do intend to see if I can get it. Thanks for listening. Now on to WALL*E.

Well, this film in all of its animated glory will cause those feelings to resurface.

WALL*E’s primary job is to clean up all the excess trash on earth - alone. Trash has completely out weighed the human population and their ability to remain on earth. Unfortunately, someone, a human, forgot to turn him off, and he just goes about doing what he was made to do. You almost get the feeling that he‘ll be on earth, alone forever. Like Tom Hanks in “Cast Away” who’s stuck on an island all alone with no sign of human life form, you feel sorry for WALL*E. As much as this theory affects, us the viewer, WALL*E seems ok with the way things are going. Nothing seems out of place to him - just yet, because you can‘t really miss what you‘‘ve never had, right?

Maybe because he’s all alone, and there are no humans around, everything about him seems so human. Everyday, WALL*E wakes up groggy and stumbles to ready himself for his busy day of compacting trash. Where, we humans may need the input of coffee to ready us for our day, WALL*E only needs the sun to charge him-he’s solar generated and he’s ready to get started. He’s cute, in a square shaped kind of way, he finds and collects treasure from man’’s trash, he takes care of a cockroach that follows him around everywhere he goes, and he even carefully decorated his large compactor home.

Just like clock work, like most humans, WALL*E works and returns home to some sort of entertainment (on some sort of box). WALL*E, is just the opposite though, his entertainment is a movie with humans in it, “Hello Dolly.”” This movie, in all of its splendor of singing and dancing, inspires one type of feeling in WALL*E and that is love. He wants to be able to hold someone’s hand and feel love. Never mind dancing and singing, this robot wants to be loved.

Then, one day, a new sleeker feminine robot was sent to earth on a special mission. Smarter, more dangerous and determined, EVE (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) is not here to make friends, but to report findings. When we discover the female robots name is EVE, you almost want to change WALL*E’s name to Adam. Similarly, both couple’s were on earth alone, going about doing what they were made to do, adjusting to one another and then out of no where some foreign “thing” changes the course of what seemed to be perfection. In Adam and Eve’s case is was a deceptive serpent, but for WALL*E and EVE, it’s vegetation that soon disrupts their happy oasis. It would cause unhappiness, division and they would have to desert their perfect home. Sound familiar?

When EVE meets WALL*E, her first instinct is to destroy him, but he was more interested bringing her home and familiarizing himself with her. More importantly, he wanted to show her the movie and feel out her interest in holding hands. He soon realizes that she’s not yet ready to play nice.

After being on earth for some time and EVE conforms to her new environment and softening up to her admirer, WALL*E gives EVE a gift from his pile of collections and this gift ends up being the main thing that EVE was sent to earth to find.

Eager to report her findings, EVE embarks on returning home, but WALL*E can’t bear to be without her. So he commands cockroach to stay put on earth as he follows EVE to a galaxy far away in order to live the life he dreams of everyday.

This is where the real adventure begins!