WALL-E

Seen today, courtesy of free tickets from Walt Disney! The girl on the door at the cinema gave me a promo pack on my way in, which included stickers. She helpfully told me I could stick them on my lunch box... Anyway, the film. 800 or so years into the future and mankind has left the earth and left it in a mess. Also left behind are robots, tasked with the job of tidying up the planet until such time as the humans return. Now just one remains, the titular WALL-E, happily going about his business, collecting random items and watching an old tape of the musical, Hello Dolly! Then one day, a spaceship arrives, leaving behind a sleek, flying, female robot (EVE) on a mission, whom WALL-E falls for and which will lead to him take a trip to the stars...

In short, this is the best animated film ever made and one of the best films ever made, period. From the superb, often breathtaking animation, to the simple yet never less than entirely absorbing story, it's a resounding success on all levels. For roughly the first 40-45 minutes, there's almost no dialogue at all and it's an achievement for the writers that you never once notice, so compelling is the *visual* dialogue. The film is funny, exciting and often surprisingly moving with an existential anxiety rarely seen in films ostensibly aimed at children.

WALL-E himself is cute, funny, but tough too, reminiscent of ET, R2D2, and visually a clear descendant Short Circuit's Johnny Five. But there's a range of other characters that the animators manage to imbue with such personality, even though they're often faceless robots. EVE is one such stand-out character, conveying so much with little more than her digitised eyes (and one heck of a gun!). Also notable are WALL-E's cockroach friend and M-O, an obsessive cleaning robot.

The film also carries an environmental message about looking after the planet, but manages to get this across without being preachy. It's also a very pointed critique of consumerism, corporate greed and sedentary lifestyles, which makes it perhaps Pixar's most politically charged film to date, which is somewhat ironic considering it's owned by Walt Disney and has spawned a vast array of merchandising. But no matter. None of this apparent contradiction detracts from the film in any way. It's quite simply a masterpiece.

5/5