Ben McKeown

I wrote this review right after seeing Wall-E, at the end of June.

First and foremost, “Wall-E” is a story about humanity.  And as unlikely as it may seem, the two main characters in the film, Wall-E and Eve (both robots), embody the ethos of humanity nearly perfectly.  Rather than a quirky hindrance that must be circumvented, this characteristic actually works as a benefit to the characters’ portrayal of themes that are quintessentially human.  It seems that because of the fact that Wall-E and Eve are not  humans themselves, they are able in turn to present, raw and uninhibited, emotions and thoughts that every human can understand.  This is further perpetuated by the fact that a majority of the first act of the movie is devoid of any human language, meaning the appeal is cross-lingual. If the main characters’ roles had been played by actual humans, these perfectly fundamental essences would have been dampened by the humans’ inevitable flaws - acquired superficialities, concerns for physical appearance, prejudices, preoccupations with oneself, etc.  Stripped of the murkiness and implications of a human body, Wall-E and Eve present a lean and moving portrait of rudimentary humanity.  (Much, perhaps, like children.)

But this is simply the platform upon which a much grander story is built.

At the opening of the movie, we are carried through a desolate, yet eerily familiar landscape (beautifully accompanied by a recording of Hello Dolly’s “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” - a movie that will become an ever-present theme throughout the rest of the film)  that seems to be the remnants of an earthly mega-city.  Skyscrapers protrude from the ground into a cloud of brownish smog that engulfs the entirety of the landscape, reminiscent of images of Beijing, China on its smoggiest days.  Soon we realize that many of the skyscrapers are not buildings at all, but rather monumental towers of trash.  No humans are present.  No life at all, in fact, except for a small, dirty, and rusty robot, Wall-E.

Wall-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class) spends his days doing his job of compressing trash into cubes and piling it into these towers.  Evidence of earlier human life is present, especially in the form of lingering advertisements for the company “Buy-n-Large”, perhaps a bigger, more olympian version of present-day Wal-Mart.  We learn eventually through these lingering ads that Buy-n-Large had provided refuge for humanity from an uninhabitable Earth on a gargantuan spaceship called “Axiom”.  The “cruise” on Axiom, as dubbed by Buy-n-Large, was supposed to last for 5 years while ” we clean up for you”.  Obviously, this operation had failed, as we find that hundreds of other Wall-E units are dead and strewn about the city.  (Additionally, It is later revealed that the movie takes place nearly 800 years after humanity’s departure from Earth.)

Every night, to avoid the imminent and enormous dust storms, Wall-E retires to his storage-unit home, which is adorned on the inside by strands of Christmas lights and a vast collection of Earthly trinkets that Wall-E finds intriguing.  (Wall-E’s perception of the trinkets themselves provides very poignant insight into humanity’s infatuation with Things; there is a particularly moving scene where Wall-E finds a diamond ring inside a case.)  Inside his home, Wall-E watches a VHS copy of the movie “Hello Dolly” and marvels at the notion of companionship, interaction, and most notably, love.  The passion and longing with which Wall-E watches the scenes of the movie is quite contagious; I found myself filled with similarly emotional intrigue as I watched Wall-E watch the movie.

One day, Wall-E’s routine is interrupted by the landing of a spaceship near his home.  Here, we meet Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), a sleek, immaculate, and curiously Apple-esque robot.  She emerges from her ship and begins scanning the landscape in search of something, which she evidently has trouble finding.  Wall-E finds himself enchanted by Eve and by the prospect of interaction with her, and thus begins a process of initially ill-fated courtship.  Throughout his attempt to win her acceptance, the essence of human desires is again stripped of its muddying body and demonstrated, quite stirringly, in the raw.

At one point, Wall-E shows Eve one of his trinkets, which will become the centerpiece of their coming adventure.  The trinket is actually a small, green - living - plant, which Wall-E has found and transplanted into an old boot.  Upon seeing the plant, Eve is enthralled and soon Eve and Wall-E set out on a quest to bring the plant all the way to Axiom.

On Axiom, the portrait that is painted of humanity is stinging.  Every person is obese to the point of immobility and subsequently are carried about the community in hovering chairs - a sort of futuristic version of the mechanical chairs in which today’s morbidly obese ride.  Laziness is universal.  Everyone looks constantly into their own personal screen (perhaps at a version of today’s internet), where they chat inanely with friends, order junk food (Lunch in a Cup!), and remain oblivious to the physical environment that surrounds them.  Though it is 800 years into the future, the scene is strikingly imaginable; nothing here is implausible based on the direction of today’s world.  We eventually meet the captain of Axiom (voiced wonderfully by Jeff Garlin), equally obese as his passengers, who spends his days alone in the captains’ quarters.

The story contains all the pathos, efficacy, and commentary of Orwell’s “1984″ or Asimov’s “I-Robot”, and is just as riveting.  Simultaneously, the presentation of the tale is absolutely beautiful, both visually and conceptually.  The images are simple, believable, and sublime - full of color, depth, and emotion.  One scene in particular embodies the visual and conceptual successes perfectly for me, one where Wall-E and Eve dance together in space outside Axiom.  It is as moving for me as the classic ballroom scene from Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” if not more.  (This scene, as the rest of the movie, is accompanied by a fantastic score written by Thomas Newman.)  Along with the vivid images, the story itself is simple enough to engage the youngest viewers (the theater where I saw the movie was full of laughing sub-10-year-old’s).

Really, it seems, the message of “Wall-E” is ultimately simple (like those of Orwell and Asimov), but leads to discussions as deep as any.  Personally, I left “Wall-E” full of a variety of inspirations - among many, to explore my world, to look away from my screen, to value my planet, and to perpetually search for love.  I found myself thinking that though it is possible for technology to swallow us and our human essence, it is equally as possible for it to enhance it - it’s just a matter of how we use it.  The same caveat could be drawn not only about technology but also about our emotions, our pleasures, and our loves.  Though some may find them, I don’t believe Wall-E makes any political assertions.  The ideas that Wall-E presents, rather, transcend ideology and reach into the fundamentally human.  Wall-E asks us to look at ourselves, at one another, and at our species as a whole, and decide what is truly important.  It is easily the best film of 2008 and will most likely remain on my list of favorites - at least until our Axiom departs.

This is how Batman should feel.  Dark, disturbing, deep, and in no way definitive.

Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” plays these qualities with an undivided effectiveness that was till now absent in the “comic book” genre.  Sheer beauty emanates from each scene of the movie in a myriad of ways.  The writing, the acting, the cast, the set, the cinematography, the music - everything just works.  Simply put, this movie is amazing.  It’s so amazing, in fact, that it’s nearly impossible to write a review that adequately echoes the film’s profundity and impressiveness.  This one just has to be seen.

And yet even more astonishingly, amid the dense greatness there is a specific part of this movie that stands out even more brilliantly.  Heath Ledger.  Or, more accurately, The Joker, for the portrait that Ledger paints of this character is so complete, so absolute, that you forget there is an actor beneath the makeup.  In The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger does not play the joker, Heath Ledger is the joker.  Like a profound sentence in a perfect book, Ledger’s depiction of the sadistic, sardonic, anarchic criminal pushes the quality of The Dark Knight from amazing to monumental.  Of course, the circumstances surrounding this particular performance inevitably add a sense of importance to the character, as it will be Ledger’s last full performance, but the execution is so flawless and engulfing that the external feelings are overshadowed.  In this case, “Oscar” is a perfectly apt word, if not downright certain.

The story behind The Dark Knight is by no means simple.  In the first act, we are reintroduced to many of the familiar characters from the prequel, Batman Begins - Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman), Alfred (Michael Caine), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and Rachel Dawes (this time, Maggie Gyllenhall) - as well as to a couple of key new players in Gotham, namely The Joker (Ledger) and Gotham’s handsome and ambitious District Attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).  Our first encounter with Batman (Christian Bale) is at a nighttime meeting of criminals in a parking garage, where we learn that throughout Gotham, a number of copycat (and pathetically under-qualified) Batmans have taken to confronting outlaws.  This faction represents a growing number of citizens in the city who are becoming aggravated by Batman’s vigilanteism and who believe that no one person should be above the law.  “What gives you the right?” one of the copycats asks Batman in the parking garage, “what is the difference between you and me?”  (Batman’s response in the film is both revealing and hilarious.)  Their frustration is evidently justified by the fact that crime in the city is worse than ever, despite Batman’s presence.  This, we find, weighs heavily on Bruce Wayne, who begins to wonder how long Batman can and should exist.  Fortunately, the city’s appointed “White Knight”, Harvey Dent, works tirelessly to confront the problem.  The operation is continually thwarted, however, by the added problem of corruption within Gotham’s police force, a theme which has run continually through Gotham’s existence.

The story could have easily move forward simply on this platform, enlisting a ring-leader-villian to lead the corrupt and fight Batman and the rest of the righteous.  From here, the filmmakers could’ve produced another quasi-entertaining, summery Batman movie.  Fortunately though, for the movie’s sake, we meet The Joker.  Both psychotic and fiendish, the Joker quickly demonstrates that he is a friend of no one, not even, perhaps, himself.  The injection of this disturbing element propels the story deeper into its wonderfully dark moodiness.  Subsequent events unfold with a level of intricacy and intensity akin to other great crime films like Scorsese’s “The Departed” or the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men”.  The action, though absolutely present, is by no means out of place, which is too often the case in the standard Summer Blockbuster.  In other words, there is no shortage of pyrotechnics, and they do nothing but add to the splendor of the story.  It’s hard to find any element, really, that doesn’t do its part to make this movie work.

And to cap it, the monologue that ends the film is gorgeous enough to provoke tears (even the second time).

The Dark Knight is just beautiful.  In every way.  It works.  And not only for lifelong Batman fans (like myself), who will likely find that a filmmaker finally understands what makes these stories and characters fantastic.  It works even for the outsiders, the newcomers, for the stories and themes in The Dark Knight are utterly human.  Just like Batman himself.  This isn’t a “superhero” flick; no one in this movie has “superpowers”.  It is rather a complex and sincere study of good, of evil, and of the elemental capability of humanity.  This is how Batman should feel.