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Wall-E (2008)



Took the boys this afternoon and Brother Dryfoos--who phoned in his review last week, after taking his son-had this one nailed: while there's much talk of the environmental theme and the saccharine robot love story, the crux of the film is the eternal choice of security or freedom.

Indeed, properly considered, the film is a re-enactment of the Fall and, while you aren't likely to read it in Disney press material, Wall-E is Satan.

(Be warned--the rest of the review may contain spoilers.)

Humankind has been floating around in space for 700 years, but is unbothered by the fact because they are taken care of by machines. They live in lounge chairs, staring into electronic screens, a giant drink in their fists at all time. They have perfect security.

Meanwhile, Wall-E gives Eve, a probe that the human spaceship sends out, the first bit of plant life that he's come across in all those years. When she returns to the ship with this tree of knowledge, the previously indolent and uninterested captain suddenly becomes insatiably curious about Earth and determines to return.

The humans follow through on this exercise in newly rediscovered free will despite the sorry state of Earth when they arrive there. The captain even going so far as to say: "I don't want to survive. I want to live." The film ends with him showing people how they'll farm and raise crops to feed themselves--Cain-like--rather than just accept the bounty that's provided. Thus is Eden forsaken...yet again.

(Reviewed:30-Jun-08)

Grade: (A+)

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    -FILMOGRAPHY: Andrew Stanton (IMDB.com)
    -INFO: Wall-E (IMDB.com)
    -INTERVIEW: The Little Robot That Could: Pixar's Andrew Stanton first thought of WALL•E in 1994, and now it's hitting theaters. We caught up with Stanton to discuss his faith, creativity, and that lonely little 'bot. (Mark Moring, 06/24/08, Christianity Today)
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    -REVIEW ARCHIVES: Wall-E (IMDB.com)
    -REVIEW ARCHIVES: Wall-E (MetaCritic)
    REVIEW: of Wall-E (James Lileks, 6/30/08, The Bleat)
    -REVIEW: of Wall-E: Pixar's latest creation may not be a favorite for the younger generation, but may attract an older audience. (Frederica Mathewes-Green, 6/27/08, National Review)
    -REVIEW: of Wall-E: From Pixar, A Droid Piece of Filmmaking (John Anderson, 6/27/08, The Washington Post)
    -REVIEW: of Wall-E (David Denby, New Yorker)
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