In 2008, animation studio Pixar released an animated feature called "WALL-E," following a string of eight consecutive Oscar nominees, making up the studio’s golden age. Unlike those films, this was not about talking animals, sentient toys or lovable monsters. Instead, WALL-E was a space opera, an environmental piece and most importantly, a romance. Through a mix of clever homages to classic love stories such as “Hello, Dolly!" and the movie's masterful use of cinema as a language, Pixar manages to create a beautiful dynamic between the two leads. For these reasons and more, I cannot help but recommend it to anyone looking for a romantic movie to watch this Valentine's Day.
The leads of the movie are actually two robots, WALL-E and EVE, and their romance acts as the driving force behind the film’s themes of life and connection. Eventually, it is this romance that saves the entire human race from a perpetuity of apathy, stagnancy and drifting through space. "WALL-E" emphasizes this dynamic not through dialogue, but through the masterful design work of WALL-E, EVE and the separate worlds they inhabit.
The film’s first act contains little to no dialogue. Instead, the two robots are characterized and contrasted through their respective appearances, as well as the feature's wonderful score. WALL-E, a rusty yet hard-working cleaning robot, is shown to be a curious and adventurous type with a personality far beyond his metal exterior. He is shown in the opening scenes collecting trinkets and watching musicals on a small iPod collected from the rubble of a long-since-abandoned Earth. It is through these musicals that he learns of love and wishes to find someone he can show love to.
Only then does another robot, EVE, appear from a strange shuttle that arrives in search of proof that the ruined Earth can still support life. To little surprise, WALL-E immediately falls in love, despite EVE’s clear disinterest. Unlike the little garbage collector, EVE is pristine and more akin to the typical idea of a sleek and futuristic automaton, more focused on her directive than any of WALL-E’s attempts at romantic advancement. These advancements are shown in a lovely and comedic montage set to “La Vie en Rose” by Édith Piaf, showing WALL-E’s clumsy yet well-meaning attempts to grow closer to EVE.
It truly is a tale as old as time: two people from different worlds slowly growing closer as both learn to understand and appreciate the surroundings of the other. EVE first comes to see Earth, where she first meets WALL-E, and the two spend time together as EVE searches for organic life. Later, the two are forced to return to the ship where EVE came from, a spacefaring cruise liner known as the Axiom. EVE and WALL-E look very clearly out of place in the other’s environment (another testament to the film’s excellent design), but it is only because of this that the two robots learn to lean on each other through the film’s events. This contrast is the driving force of their dynamic and leads to a robotic romance that only two synthetic beings could truly demonstrate.
The growing romance between the two comes to a head in the film’s most iconic sequence, “Define Dancing,” in which the two share a slow dance together in deep space. With its masterful score and impeccable cinematography, the scene acts as the culmination of the film’s aspirations as both a romance and a space opera. It is a tour de force of animation, and the beauty this movie brings could only truly come from a studio like Pixar. For any fans of Pixar's other works, this film is a must-watch.
Though the themes of love are less pronounced in the film’s final act in place of its more environmental sentiments, the dynamic between WALL-E and EVE remains the focal point throughout. Despite being robots with very little speech and limited facial expression, the two of them remain more human and more emotionally complex than many human characters in other movies of similar caliber.
4.5/5 – A wonderful robotic romance and an impeccable film.
Even if it may wander for a brief period in its back half, "WALL-E" is a movie that I couldn’t recommend more. It brought me to tears when I first watched it many years ago, and it did the exact same when I rewatched it for this review. If you’re looking for a movie to watch this Valentine’s Day, I would highly recommend watching "WALL-E" instead of a more conventional romance film. Instead of spending your time on the ground, why not take your love to the stars?
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Foster Mayhall, a freshman currently undeclared in engineering, is from Dothan, Alabama. He has been with The Auburn Plainsman since the spring of 2026.
