Wall-E: I'd want my money back if I had paid for it.

[thistlechaser]

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. While technically really well done and wonderful to look at, story-wise this was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

Robots have no emotions. Robots have no feeling. Movie ends right there.

Even if emotions could somehow be programmed into robots, there would be no reason to do it for one like Wall-E. You really want a worker doing a redundant trash-related task to feel bored? Resentful? Angry at having to clean up after humans?

How the hell can you have a love story between two robots?

Grrrr.

Toss onto that perhaps the most heavy-handed "eco-message" I've ever seen in a movie, and I wanted to stab the screen through most of the film.

The only thing that could have salvaged this a little bit could have been the ending. If Wall-E had stayed 'reprogrammed' (or memory erased or whatever it was) it would have been a darkly satisfying end. But no! We must have a happy ending for the children!

And tell me why most animated movies need "wacky sidekicks"? Yeah, those defective robots were really important to add in...

I can't believe how many people loved this movie. Based on reviews I've read around in the net, I may be the only person in the world who hated it.

But seriously. Robots cannot feel anything. They cannot feel love. The movie was based around nothing but one giant flaw. *mumble*

Comments

[gmth.livejournal.com]

I didn't like it, either. For all the reasons you mentioned and a few others. I was and still am amazed at the hype it generated. Kung Fu Panda was so much better.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I didn't mention the humans because they seemed to fit under eco-message and I didn't want my post to be overly long, but they bothered me as well for multiple reasons. Heck, there's not much in the movie that I did like, I can't think of anything other than the animation/technical end of it.

Ooh, I should track down Kung Fu Panda! I haven't seen that yet. (And I do usually enjoy animated movies, Wall-E aside).

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

You know, I could have overlooked the whole "robots having feelings" thing, but it really annoyed me that this had to be a romance - and a clearly gendered romance that played out some really icky male/female dynamics at that.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Totally agreed. Perhaps the forced romance was why I wasn't able to get past the whole "robots having feelings" thing, since I've successfully done that with other movies (OMG! Teapots cannot turn into people! Yet I liked animated Beauty and the Beast!).

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

That was definitely the case with me - I mean, I do know that if The Lion King lions were real, Simba would be going back to the pride, killing all of Scar's progeny, and having sex with his mother. Likewise, I'm pretty sure fish don't love their children enough to go looking for them when they go missing, given how many of them seem to eat their offspring.

Wall-E being lonely and wanting a friend, I could have bought - but the whole hand-holding thing (while Eve was unconscious, no less, and the desperate stalker-like pursuit really turned me off. It was especially disappointing because Pixar has been so good in the past about making films either without the cliched stock romance at all, or with interesting side relationships that take a backseat to the main plot.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I mean, I do know that if The Lion King lions were real, Simba would be going back to the pride, killing all of Scar's progeny, and having sex with his mother.

Ha ha yes. Back when LK had a big fandom, that was always a big argument.

but the whole hand-holding thing (while Eve was unconscious, no less, and the desperate stalker-like pursuit really turned me off.

Man, that's a good point. I was grring too much to pick up on it.

[teslanomaly]

Lies! Robots totally have feelings! Didn't you watch Short Circuit? Number Five is alive, and so is Wall-E! :D :D :D

...Actually, I never finished the movie. ;_; The DVD I was loaned messed up. I liked what I saw, but then, I have no problem blatantly suspending reality. I refused to throw away my old toys after Toy Story, too.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

. I refused to throw away my old toys after Toy Story, too.

You know, I felt the same way, too. Maybe it's just something Wall-E related that keeps me from successfully suspending reality. Heck, Lion King was one of my favorite animated movies, but lions don't sing! *shock!*

[gconnor.livejournal.com]

Well. The idea that we might eventually create Artificial Intelligence, and therefore create intelligent life, is a staple in a lot of sci-fi/fantasy story lines. Whether that's labelled Science Fiction or Fantasy is probably a minor point, but if you can't suspend disbelief about it, you're probably not going to enjoy any fiction based around that idea.

Did you know the main character was a robot before agreeing to watch it? :P

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Did you know the main character was a robot before agreeing to watch it? :P

Perhaps surprisingly, that's the only thing I knew going into the movie. I didn't recall any movie posters, I hadn't seen any box/covers. On one hand, it was nice going into a movie knowing nothing (I kept wondering if there would ever be any dialogue, would humans ever show up, etc) but on the other, if I had known anything about it, maybe I would have been more prepared for a robot romance...

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

OK, I don't really mind you not liking the movie for other reasons you listed: But is the whole robots having feelings thing THAT much of a big deal? I mean it's kind of like not liking a lot of Disney movies because the animals talk and real animals don't. Or... you know disliking Beauty and the Beast because people can't actually be turned into furniture.

[xvolph.livejournal.com]

Right. It's a kids' movie and a fantasy. I really don't think they were writing based on cold, hard scientific fact... otherwise, I could see that a lot more people would have been bored with it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know that. But I generally I need at least a minimum of reality to enjoy a movie, kids or not. :/

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I don't know why it is. :/ Like I said in other comments, I don't usually have an issue with suspending reality -- I love most of the mid-generation Disney films! Lion King, B&tB, etc... Something about this movie annoyed me from the very first seconds. (This is the first time, the totally first time, I've ever sat through a movie hoping the main character would die. "Yay, he die-- nope." "Woo, he's finally dead-- aww, nope.")

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

I liked it, overall. Although I will say it was one of the most depressing Disney movies I've ever watched. Even when the ending was happy I felt reaaaaaaally uncomfortable.

Then again I have a natural fear of the world ending. So. It just hit one of my panic buttons.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

it was one of the most depressing Disney movies I've ever watched.

Ah, see, I found it annoingly upbeat and happy. The humans got back to earth and, if the ending credits are to be believed, lived 100% happy and fine... no matter that they could hardly even walk on their own... Not to mention, the two robots lived happily ever after...

[hamburger.livejournal.com]

Like I said, it was probably that button of mine that it hit that made it that way for me. I couldn't get over the destruction of Earth thing. Made me uncomfortable as hell.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ah, that makes sense. :) *snugs*

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I started watching Wall-E and a couple minutes into it I said to myself, "Uh-oh. Robots have feelings. TRASH robots have feelings. This...oh, dear." What I said to myself after that was, "Okay, you're going to have to get over this if you want to enjoy this film and it looks really potentially enjoyable if you can get past that. Can you get past that?" I found I could. And I really did enjoy it. But, oh, my god, you're right, that was nearly the deal-breaker for me right there.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think if I had just forced myself to accept that, I could have enjoyed it more. I did see some nice themes, but I was just grring at my screen too much to focus on anything else. :/

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I liked WALL-E's love intreast! She was freaking kill crazy at the start of the movie! LASERZ! MOTHERFUCKING LASERZZZZZZ!! Pew pew pew!

Robots have no emotions. Robots have no feeling. Movie ends right there.

I think I saw that movie. Although not very entertaining, at least a lot of consumer products were made by the end of it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Pew pew! I love you! Pew pew!

They probably sold cards like that. :P

[peppygrowlithe.livejournal.com]

FOREIGN CONTAMINANT

Seriously though, Wall-E was awesome.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Okay, that part did amuse me. The rest of it though, grrr!

We'll just have to disagree! :D

[peppygrowlithe.livejournal.com]

No, you have to agree with me or we can't be friends. >:|

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

...do we have to be friends? Can't we just cyber a while? D:

[tharpy.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen it... prolly will eventually for the fact there's a 3 year old in the house..

that being the case, i submit for annoyance and rebuttal of robots with emotions...

Johnny Five!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha, good point!

[quistie.livejournal.com]

I think you're reading too much into that whole "Robots cannot feel anything" bit. Tons of sci-fi stories have been written about robots becoming (or at least wanting to become) more human. It's almost inevitable that eventually our evil robot overlords will acquire some human-like traits before enslaving all of us...

But yeah, the wacky sidekick thing needs to go. I hate Disney so much...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I'd be fine with the robots somehow developing emotions... if it were explained. Were we just supposed to assume they always had them? Somehow evolved them? :/ Just make me buy it!

[doxxxicle.livejournal.com]

Robots with sufficiently advanced "brains" could experience emotion. It's a question of whether they're advanced enough. I think the point was also that Wall-E was somehow special, that his solitude had changed him into something more than just a trash robot. The whole theme of the movie was that humans created robots to think for them. They were completely autonomous. I don't think it's that far a stretch to imagine them developing the capacity for emotion.

And I have to say that Mo was very cute and very funny. "Mo. [-_-]"

Also, the repair robot that got stuck outside the ship. One the Bluray special edition, they have an extra short film telling his story of how he has to repeatedly repair that light and where the scene from the movie fits in.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Robots with sufficiently advanced "brains" could experience emotion. It's a question of whether they're advanced enough

I might be willing to buy that, but would a garbage robot be advanced enough?

And ha ha, yes. Mo was one of the very few things I liked.

Also, the repair robot that got stuck outside the ship.

And that was the other! :D That was the one and only time I laughed out loud during the film.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

See, I can totally group robots with feelings in the same category as talking toys, sentient cars, and rats who want to be gourmet chefs. So that wasn't my problem. My problem was with the end where you have a race of infantilized humans who are suddenly going to rebuild a ruined planet, despite the fact that they can't even take care of themselves. I did a rant about that on another blog, so I'll spare you that here. ^_~

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

My problem was with the end where you have a race of infantilized humans who are suddenly going to rebuild a ruined planet

Gah, yes. And apprently were very successful at doing so, if the end credits were to be believed!