Wall-E

In Pixar’s latest animated venture “Wall-E,” Earth has become a cavernous wasteland in which filth and other miscellaneous trash dominate the overall landscape to the point of total uninhabitation. As our hero rummages through the remnants of this once flourishing civilization, you’ll undoubtedly recognize some of his findings along the way. A Twinkie, an Atari, a Rubik's Cube, and an I-Pod all make appearances and are irrefutably portrayed as somehow contributing to the gradual downfall of society ( Message: Consumerism Kills).

The people that do survive are morbidly obese and have little or no contact with fellow humans outside of talking video screens. They exist solely aboard a starliner called the Axiom just waiting for the day when they can return home to a planet free from litter and airborne pathogens.

If you’re polishing your whale-skin hubcaps thinking that Disney has finally gone off the deep end, this film, in all likelihood, isn’t for you. But if you find yourself arousing even a smidgen of concern for the current state of global ecology, I urge you to spend ninety-eight minutes with a spry trash compactor to get a sobering glimpse of what might become of this world if we don’t change our ways.

Director Andrew Stanton has manufactured a magnificent piece of science fiction complete with enough wit and sophistication to keep both parents and children engaged at all times. It’s not often that a film can go almost thirty minutes without dialogue and still hold your attention, but the visuals here are so exquisitely drawn that the colorful narrative assumes an even greater connotation when being carried out in dead silence. In fact, the screening I attended went without sound for a ten minute period and I still sat altogether engrossed by the aura of earnest wonderment the visionaries at Pixar cooked up.

For those still wondering, Wall-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class and his mission is to stack garbage into skyscraper-esque arrangements to ensure simple disposal. He has an amiable, vibrant persona all his own and enjoys watching “Hello, Dolly” whenever the need for a little cornball diversion arises. No matter how desolate life on Earth appears, he does whatever he can to brighten the mood and when EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) arrives, it’s love at first sight.

At first, she rejects his affable advances, but later realizes that their friendship is something that she’ll refuse to let wither away. The rest of their time is spent trying to find one of the last surviving plants to alert the humans that their triumphant return to Earth is imminent, so nothing that unusual really happens. Listen closely and you’ll hear the spirited voice of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Jeff Garlin as the Captain, but otherwise, it’s straightforward family entertainment down the stretch.

In all seriousness, this is a four-star movie, but due to Pixar’s thinly veiled environmental statement, I refuse to cave in. I loved everything about this film except for the fact that innocent children’s fare is now being used to further someone’s inequitable political agenda. I mean, I’m all for getting today’s youth to think green, but is the cinema the best place to initiate?

- *** ½ out of 4