WALL·E is too cute to be true

'WALL·E'

Rated: G

Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Runtime: 103 min.

Visually, WALL·E is pixilated perfection on screen. Emotionally, the plot and characters strike a chord with the hearts of audience members of all varieties. Physically, you cannot help but smile at the astoundingly perfect personification of wonderful robots that make you wish they were real.

It does not take long to fall in love with WALL·E, a robotic trash compactor with a lot of heart, curiosity, and eventual bravery, overcoming childlike and honest inhibitions. He was left on Earth to clean up the mess of a world rendered toxic by the competitive commercialism and mass conglomeration of humans, but became the only surviving robot left to do the job.

With the exception of his pet cockroach, the self-sufficient bot is all alone, as all of humanity has been living on space station Axiom for 700 years, and all other forms of life have vanished from the sunless, desecrated landscape.

WALL·E charms viewers with adorable mannerisms, preciously sorting through human remains to treasure his favorite artifacts in pack-rat style, and preciously clinging to love-scenes from an overplayed videocassette tape of his favorite musical.

He shares his keepsakes with Eve, a fierce worker-bee robot from Axiom who strictly adheres to her mission of scavenging earth for signs of life. WALL·E falls in love with her at first sight. Though very little dialogue is exchanged, the two build a relationship with the help of WALL·E's extreme expressiveness, and Eve slowly breaks away from her task at hand on account of WALL·E's irresistible childlike wonder.

To show his affection, he introduces her to a plant he found, a sight that sends her back to her original mission to bring the plant back to Axiom for confirmation of life. WALL·E ends up transported to the space station in his failed attempts to chivalrously save her. His accidental space station arrival innocently breaks a routine that reigns over the life-less incapacitated lives of useless, overfed and over-convened humans. (They rely on technology for mobility, communicate only through holographic screens, sip endless amounts of juice and are highly susceptible to media brainwashing)

His presence accidentally disrupts the technological trance, his only true motive being to boldly try to appease his beloved Eve. Adorably na've, he is always in the right place at the right time, making WALL·E everyone's favorite hero.

The storyline is actually kind of scary - humans so obese they are immobile and run by robots far away from their landfill of a home planet sure to be anyone's worst nightmare - but the sweet love story is so comfortingly alluring it trumps the dismal state of life as we know it.

The striking images are photographically authentic, gloomy, and as real as WALL·E and Eve, who appear they could step right off screen and exist among us. Immediately, the perfectly rendered frames blow one's mind, truly creating another unparalleled Disney/Pixar world of excellence. The film's detail is amazing and the devotion of its creators is awesome and obvious. Prepare to be wowed.

Amber Fijolek can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275 or at kelojif@siu.edu.