Robot Love

Pixar has really outdone itself with Wall-E. Elegant and simple in a way that only a children's story can be, Wall-E manages to turn the horrifying aftermath of consumer fetishism into a poignant love story. In a future where humans have abandoned this planet, leaving nothing but mountains of garbage and a haze of pollution, imagine the old cassette recorder you bought at Goodwill falling in love with an iPod.

Centuries after he has been forgotten, Wall-E continues to dutifully toil away at cleaning up our garbage and as heartbreaking as it is to realize how complete and profound his solitude is, there is something delightful in watching the transgressive pleasure he takes in adding unusual or unique objects to his personal collection. Fascination with the Other has long been a staple of children's stories - think of the Little Mermaid's collection of found objects - and Wall-E, freed of any cultural or societal context, develops his own criteria for what constitutes a worthwhile object; a diamond ring is discarded but its hinged box elicits a series of contented chirps (sound design by Ben Burtt of R2D2 fame) from the little robot.

Just as Wall-E the robot learns about love from a VHS copy of Hello, Dolly, Wall-E the movie borrows heavily from previous children's movies as well as from more adult science fiction classics and literature, liberally incorporating influences and ideas into a sleek and satisfying package that is at once both new and familiar. When Eve, a probe robot searching for life, arrives on Earth, it is no surprise that Wall-E falls instantly and irrevocably in love with her; she is everything he has ever wanted. Coy and seductive, elegant and powerful, Eve is the perfect combination of both form and function in Wall-E's unabashedly adoring eyes.

While it is not a perfect film (minimal human involvement in the last half slightly detracts from the whole) Wall-E is as close as you're likely to get in a G-rated summer film; easily digestible yet compelling romance combined with thrilling visuals and sound design (I saw it in a DLP projection theater - amazing). Highly recommended for anyone with a thing for love songs, loners, and the long term implications of consumer culture.