A far-future tale of two robots, Wall-E is both a good movie for children and a treat for parents.
Earth in the future is a dismal place; humanity has vacated it, leaving only piles and piles of trash and a small army of robots to clean it up. But most of these robots have long since malfunctioned, leaving only Wall-E, a trash compactor with a taste for relics and a love of old musicals, and his pet cockroach. That is, until the newer robot Eve shows up. Wall-E’s excited to find a new friend, but when Eve finds the signs of life she’s looking for, Wall-E follows her back to the colony ship holding what was once Earth’s population.
Wall-E, particularly for the first half, is as much about seeing as about hearing. Of the first three characters to appear (Wall-E, his pet cockroach, and Eve), only the robots speak, and they have a vocabulary of about six words between them. Regardless, their expressions and body language manage to get everything across that they need to. In the first fifteen minutes, between a series of beautiful panoramic shots and two random commercials, the movie manages to convey most of its backstory. Some of the really young audience might need explanations, but most viewers will pick up on what’s going on quickly. As with Pixar standard, the animation is top-quality and highly detailed.
Though the beginning is a little slow, there’s plenty of action once Wall-E reaches the ship, both inside and outside the ship itself. Half of the movie is one long sequence of chase scenes, with a colorful cast of robots contrasting heavily with the mostly-alike hoverchair-bound humans. The humans aren’t completely useless, though; the ship’s captain shows both brains and initiative, and the rebellious passengers John and Mary add a little color and a helping hand on a few occasions.
Additional clever touches include the use of Wall-E’s obsession with Hello, Dolly!, the running jokes involving the cleaning robot, and a number of nods and winks to various earlier science fiction movies.
The movie only has two potential issues–a couple of world-based inconsistencies and the sheer sugar content of the romance between the two robots–but neither of these should particularly bother a younger audience.
In short, Wall-E is exciting enough for the kids, packed with in-jokes for the parents, and a treat for just about everyone.