WALL-E (U)

In the 28th century, mankind has abandoned the planet aboard giant space-ships, leaving behind cities ravaged by pollution and waste. A single solar-powered droid called WALL-E (an acronym for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) is left behind to crush up the piles of scrap metal and detritus into cubes, neatly stacking them one atop the other. Out of the blue, a mothership touches down on Earth and spits out a sleek search-robot called EVE (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), whose mission is to seek out signs of life. WALL-E is instantly smitten with the new arrival and he sets about wooing her using tips he picks up from a worn out video cassette of Hello, Dolly!.

The technical wizards at Pixar (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles) dispel the myth that size matters in their latest computer animated fable…

As long as you’ve got a big heart, anything is possible, and in WALL-E, that just happens to be the most magical, out of this world love story, distinguished by amazingly detailed visuals. Director Andrew Stanton has created a masterpiece that tugs the heartstrings and leaves us giddy with joy. As soon as this beguiling film ends, you’ll be clamouring to watch it again. Pixar releases begin with an enchanting short and WALL-E is no different, whetting our appetites with the hysterical battle of wits between turn-of-the-century magician Presto DiGiotagione and his cute stage bunny, Alec Azam. Presto receives a deserved standing ovation from his audience, signalling the start of the main feature, set on a futuristic planet Earth ravaged by pollution.

The human race has evacuated this graveyard of detritus and scrap metal aboard giant cruiser spaceships, leaving behind an army of solar-powered droids to clean up the mess. The last of these mechanized creations, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class), dutifully crushes all of the refuse into neat blocks, collecting any interesting artefacts of 20th century life (Rubik’s Cube, fire extinguisher, bubble wrap) to add to his personal collection. A chirpy cockroach is WALL-E’s only companion and these unlikely friends often sit down at night to view a worn out video cassette of Hello, Dolly!, which fires the little robot’s hopelessly romantic hard drive. Out of the blue, a mysterious mother ship touches down on the planet surface and spits out a sleek search-bot called EVE (Extra-terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), who has been programmed to seek out flora on the third rock from the sun. What she discovers, however, is an out-dated Load Lifter with a lust for life and a thirst for adventure.

From the opening shots of satellite-encircled Earth and its dead continents of precariously stacked rubbish, WALL-E is a feast for the senses, conjuring unforgettable images like the diminutive hero gliding through the rings of Saturn or the robots’ deep space waltz. Every frame is crafted with love and with such jaw-dropping attention to detail. The eponymous hero is utterly adorable and the romance with EVE gathers pace gently before a masterful denouement that will reduce grown men to tears. Sound designer Ben Burtt allows WALL-E to communicate through a language of beeps and burps. Not since Short Circuit’s Number 5 has a robot seemed so human. Kids will love the army of malfunctioning droids introduced in the second half of the film including the compulsive-obsessive M-O (Microbe Obliterator), who is run ragged trying to clean up foreign contaminants that fall off WALL-E’s rusty caterpillar tracks. Stanton’s futuristic film shoots for the moon and exceeds the hype. You’re unlikely to see a better picture this year.

– Sam Cannon