The First and The Second? Maybe I knew too much?

[bima]

I've checked every page on Wall-E Discussion threads and surprisingly there isn't any thread discussing about "the first half vs. the second half" on the movie. Well, maybe I missed it, but I really want to discuss it, since it was something very big and important (according to the reviews I read).

There are people who said they loved the first half of Wall-E (the scenes without the conventional dialogue) very much, they found the second half disappointing. While they found the first half groundbreaking, genius, etc. The second half fall into the "Pixar chasing scene" who (on their opinion) feel flat and a little mediocre.

On my opinion, I love the first half very very very much. The first half of the movie, when Stanton drew the screenplay only with the bleeps, buzzes, and chirps are one of the best scenes I ever seen in my life. It was pure poetic, beautiful executed, flawless. I could go on and on and on, but I just want to said that it was very good.

The second half are also brilliant. It shows us how human world has become. And it was important to the movie itself. Without the second half, Wall-E would be only a movie with a lonely robot (something that people loves to see it as a one single movie).

But I gotta say because the first half are too good to be true, the second half (for me) is not as jaw dropping and mind blowing as the first. I found the second very good, too. But I gotta admit it kinda relieved me a little bit when Wall-E and Eve got back to the earth, when Eve trying to fix Wall-E on his compartment, I feel that I missed his 'home' already and it's good to see his home again, with the skyscrapers made from trash cubes.

Maybe I felt this way because I already know the story. I read too much reviews, that I lost the curiosity, I knew too much about Wall-E, about the humanity, about the captain and their adventure. Even though I knew almost everything, the first half still grabs me and makes me feel the magic Stanton gives. The second half, is something I already know and prepared to watch. Maybe if I went to the movie knowing nothing and clueless, it would be different.

So, what do you think? Do you think they both good, or do you prefer ones? What do you prefer?

[MidgardDragon]

I love both halfs too, but I do indeed prefer the first half. Well, maybe "prefer" is a bit much. I think the first half is definitely more groundbreaking than the second, however, the second half contains some of the best scenes of the film such as the Define Dancing scene and the ending. Without those two scenes the movie wouldn't be nearly as special, so indeed I don't think the second half is technically any better or worse than the first. They're just "different" but equally genius.

[Bartle]

I love both halfs pretty equally, I don't think I could really choose between either half.

[bima]

Yeah, I forgot the Define Dancing Scene the second half brings! Silly me.

Still, I really want to go to the movie again - if I could - with my memories erased. I really want to captured the magic like everybody watch without knew the story too much.

[Callandor]

1st half hands down

[vanessajoyce]

Thank you for such a great topic because I've actually thought a lot about this.

Personally, I love both equally, but for different reasons:

1. The first "act" feels comfortable, inviting, friendly. It gets you relaxed, familiar with the important characters and themes, and happy to be part of their journey. Sort of the yin.

2. The second "act" is the punch. It's deeper, more thought-provoking and requires more mental involvement to grasp the multiple themes and ideas that are being presented. To me it's the yang.

Whenever I find myself thinking that I do prefer one over the other, I stop myself and ask why. Inevitably it seems to come down that yin/yang aspect and it challenges me to think about why I'm moving away from the balance of both. Not to get too philosophical, but the balance of the two acts really has a powerful personal impact on me.

[Bubblegum]

I feel ashamed to say this, but the first time I saw the film, I was honestly pretty bored during the first half. However, my attitude towards the first half completely changed after a second viewing, and I love it to death now. It's perfect on every level.

Now, the second half...It does seem jarring after being on the virtually silent Earth to suddenly have robots shooting all over the place. If I had to pick the slowest part of the flim, it would have to be the first few minutes on the Axiom (minus WALL-E's incident with M-O). I'm definitely not saying that the second half is worse than the first half, because there are some absolutely beautiful scenes in the second half (you all know which ones they are), but I can see why some people would think that the second half was weaker than the first on some levels.

[thor]

Normally in a film the first half give context and background for the second half. In WALL-E however, it is almost the reverse. The second half gives the first half resonance and reason. Many almost toss away moments becomes crucial. In this way I think without the second part, the first part will much less sense, and be less resonant.

Like vanessa says yin and yang...

[rubbidonkey]

Bima, you rocked. Finally this particular thread emerged.

I have actually posted an exact same thing on Wall-E chinese fans forum. Guess what, no reply------no reply at all.

Before I gathered my courage and posted that post, I stumpted across a seemed-to-be professional reviewer's blog. He was in Taiwan, where Wall-E was shown in public. In one article he commented that Wall-E did a great job in the first half but the second half "fell completely flat in comparison". He was nowhere near a mean guy to Wall-E; in fact he loved this film a lot, so I guessed his words were true for his heart. Which really enraged me was somebody's words left on his blog. He/She said:

"Wall-E deserved its less-porpularity, every film with a good start and a bad ending deserves it; I could see it from my wife and child's anxiety during the last 30 minutes."

This view set me on fire. Well, the less-porpularity of my post......angered me further.

For two months I got not a single reply back, so I have to set up my confidence to seek for my own answer. Which is quite simple.

The style changed in pace with the changing of dominant character, and environments. The first half is sung by Wall-E and earth, so it is Wall-E and earth style: old, warm, melancholy. The second half is sung by EVE and Axiom, futuristic, harsh, quick. so it is EVE and Axiom style. Stanton did nothing wrong. I understood, and accepted it. I admit, I don't like the second half, because that it is------distant, and cold, and uncomfortable, compared with the first half. Axiom, Auto, Gopher, and BNL did this to me------to us.

Vanessa is right (I kept that little argument of the first half being the Yang and the second half being the Yin---my feeling), this two half are so different, thus in-seperatable. Neither will be complete without the other. What's more, EVE's drastic change mainly happened in the second half------my bias; I loved to analysized her, thus demonstrated the creators' genius and meticulous story-telling.

Thank you Bima, you mentioned the core of controversy. I know there are m-a-n-y controversies around Wall-E, but this one transcends borders and races and religions and other stuffs. At least this is the main controversy Wall-E had in China. We should make it clear.

[bima]

Hi, Rubbidonkey! It's nice to read your great reply! Actually, I'm Indonesian (which makes us both living in Asia) and maybe we're living in a same Wall-E controversies. Although, I'm sure it's kind of different case here in Indonesia.
See, people in my country loves the second half more. Because they find the first one - well - boring.
I don't know how the Indonesian critics react with Wall-E, because I only read one critic, and he loves the first more. Meanwhile, my friends and my cousins love the second more.

Like I said, I love the first one. I love it very much. And yeah, like you said, maybe the second feels cold, distant, very clean, while it also has very beautiful moments.

Wall-E is perfect for me. ANd any controversies makes it perfect even more...