Wall-E

by KYW's Bill Wine

As the old sci-fi movie ad almost said, "In space, no one can hear you scream... 'Masterpiece!' " But that's just what Wall-E is: a delightful, sometimes awe-inspiring collision of animated art and sparkling entertainment.

Premise: it's the post-apocalyptic future. People have littered to their hearts' content, then fled the Earth. All that remains on this planet is the end of a massive cleanup campaign. And the only one left to do anything about it is a robot named Wall-E.

The movie built around this determined little non-guy succeeds on so many levels that it's sweetly dizzying: as a cartoon, as a comedy, as science fiction, as a drama, as a cautionary tale, and as -- of all things -- a love story.

Especially as a love story -- as in, he loves her, and she loves him, and we love them.

Perhaps most remarkable of all is that this TRASH COMPACTOR, which is what Wall-E is, bursts through as a winning, three-dimensional character for whom we root and whose happiness and fulfillment we relish. Ain't animation grand?

Eight hundred years from now, Wall-E (an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth class) is the last robot left, of the thousands that were sent to clean up while the humans went on a well-timed cruise, on a water-depleted, refuse-strewn Earth long since abandoned.

Someone just forgot to turn him off and he's been working for seven centuries, staying the course, as it were. He just continues to compact trash into neat little cubes.

But he has developed a personality. He's quite inquisitive, for openers. And he loves to watch the only video in his video collection (the movie Hello, Dolly) with a faithful-companion cockroach as his only company. And, yes, he's a little lonely.

Then a white-shelled probe droid named Eve (for Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) shows up. Well, hello, Dolly -- I mean, Eve. And hello, Wall-E, it's so nice to have her here where she belongs, huh? Even if she's only there to check on the inhabitability of the planet for the humans.

It's robot love at first sight, at least from his vantage point. So when she's recalled to the humans' mother ship to report on whether or not it's safe for them to return home, Wall-E follows. Just as any self-respecting Hello, Dolly character would have.

There's a lot of life left in this machine. First of all, he wants to find out just what the heck happened to everybody and to the planet Earth. And, after that, he may have something to teach humans about just what it means to be human.

Oscar-nominated director and co-writer Andrew Stanton has quite the animation résumé, having co-written both Toy Story movies and Monsters Inc., executive produced Monsters Inc. and Ratatouille, and co-written and directed A Bug's Life and Oscar winner Finding Nemo.

So maybe we shouldn't be surprised that Wall-E is superlative -- brilliantly devised and designed, painstakingly detailed, overflowing with tossed-off sight gags, and remarkably ambitious in both nuance and scope.

Political and ecological commentary is certainly in evidence, but it rests gracefully within a great story, intriguing characters, and a fully-realized digital world of the shaky future. Imaginativeness and charm are in abundance throughout.

Patience, too, as Stanton bravely takes his time with the setup, offering slow, nearly silent early reels (alert the kids so they won't get impatient) that pay off threefold down the line because of the relaxed first act.

This is, by and large, an optimistically pessimistic (or is it pessimistically optimistic?) riff on our species, with its inconvenient truths tucked into the hems of a marvelously impressive and absorbing animated adventure.

So we'll leave space for all 4 stars out of 4. Wall-E travels from melancholy to jolly, and makes all the stops in between. Don't miss it.

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KYW Movie Podcasts: Never Miss One!

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 11/06/09
This week KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine look at the comedy-war film, "The Men Who Stare at Goats," the animated re-make, "A Christmas Carol," and the horror-mystery-thriller "The Fourth Kind." (18:45)

Movie Reviews - Week of 11/2/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "The Men Who Stare at Goats", "A Christmas Carol" and "The Fourth Kind". (3:01)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/30/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the Chris Rock documentary, "Good Hair," Michael Jackson's "This is It," and the action-crime-drama "The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day." (17:43)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/26/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Good Hair", "This Is It" and "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day". (3:00)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/23/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the animated adventure "Astro Boy," the bio-drama"Amelia," and the action-adventure-comedy "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant." (17:20)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/19/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Astro Boy", "Amelia" and "Cirque du Freak - The Vampires Assistant". (3:00)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/12/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies 'New York, I Love You', 'Law Abiding Citizen' and 'Where the Wild Things Are'. (3:00)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/09/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story," the comedy "Couple's Retreat," and the drama, "The Boys Are Back." (19:23)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/5/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Capitalism: A Love Story", "Couples Retreat" and "The Boys Are Back ". (2:57)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/2/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Zombieland", "Whip It" and "The Invention of Lying". (17:13)