4 out of 5

Director: Andrew Stanton

Upon my initial viewing of WALL-E… I was blown away. The amount of depth I perceived in the story elevated it to the upper tier of animated films. On a second viewing, the film holds up very well, and I noticed some background gags I missed the first time, but my surprise at the structure of the film seemingly overwhelmed the majority of my opinion, as the emotional impact comes across a bit more surface once you know what to expect from the story. But that’s not to undersell the movie: WALL-E kicks the pants offa most kid fare for sure, and is still the type of entertainment that should be out there, asking a little bit more from our children than to just pay attention to flashing colors. You already know the plot, but here’s your brief sketch: it’s probably the future, and Wall-E seems to be the only thing left functioning on a desolate trash planet, his function to make large piles of said trash. At night he returns to a makeshift hovel to power down, and here we see his accumulation of human ephemera… for Wall-E desperately wants to be feel some type of connection with another being… So it’s fortunate when a sexy scout robot comes to the planet looking for life, and Wall-E follows “her” back to her homeship after her discovery a sole plant… If you haven’t seen it, to say more is to giveaway some of the joy of the viewer’s discoveries. As mentioned, what’s wonderful is the dedication to the atmosphere – the first 1/2 of the film is mostly wordless, and lacking in the quick connections that most kid movies jump to. But overall this is a romance with an environmental twist, and realizing that washes over some of the cleverness to reveal some skimpiness in plotting… But hey, whado i want, anyway? Amazing animation, almost passes without a pop song (damn you, end credits!), and some some good lessons buried in the mix.