“WALL-E” is the newest release from Pixar. Their animated films have always been famous for how they manage to appeal to both younger and older audiences, and this is no exception.

While “WALL-E” is not as good as some of Pixar’s previous movies, it is still a high-quality piece of work that makes up for its shortcomings with some great comedic material and outstanding production values.

The movie stars WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) a robot who is left alone on a deserted Earth to clean up all the trash that was left behind by humans. The humans have left the planet for outer space due to the amount of pollution on Earth.

While working one day, WALL-E meets EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), another robot who has been sent back to Earth to see if it is ready to be colonized again. The encounter makes WALL-E (voice of Ben Burtt) fall in love with EVE (voice of Elissa Knight), and starts off an initially awkward relationship between the two.

“WALL-E” is not the first Pixar movie to have a relationship blossom, but it’s the first Pixar movie in which love is the main focus point. This unfortunately works against WALL-E, as the love story here is ultimately too simplistic and predictable. At least the movie moves along at a great pace and manages to stay entertaining almost all the way through.

Despite the predictable plotline, you will probably still root for the movie’s adorable robot characters. Both WALL-E and EVE are endearing thanks to the tones of their voices and their adorable eye expressions. However, it must be noted that the band of malfunctioning robots in the movie almost completely steal the spotlight from the main characters with their hilarious idiosyncrasies and glitches.

There are a few missed opportunities with some of the characters however. AUTO, the robotic autopilot of the human spaceship Axiom, could have been a more interesting antagonist if they had made him into a more sinister character with some sort of insidious plot to execute. Unfortunately, AUTO is really just a pawn who obeys his protocols to a fault, making him one of the least interesting villains Pixar has created. There is also a cockroach that WALL-E befriends early on, but its presence seems to be mostly wasted.

All things considered, the characters in “WALL-E” are brought to life thanks to the excellent graphics and comedic content. The comedic scenes generally use pure slapstick. But it is all extremely well executed and will keep you laughing through the whole movie.

The graphics and animation in “WALL-E” are also top notch, which is what we have come to expect from Pixar. The characters look and animate very realistically, and the environments are extremely vibrant and pleasing to look at. It is no surprise that Pixar has once again outdone itself in the animation department.

Ultimately, the predictable plot is what holds the movie back the most, and prevents it from being another step forward for Pixar like “Ratatouille, 2007” was. “WALL-E” takes this weak plot in stride however thanks to its endearing cast and wonderful animation. So if you liked Pixar’s previous movies, “WALL-E” is unquestionably worth seeing.

Distributed By: Walt Disney Pictures

Director: Andrew Stanton

Producers: Jim Morris
John Lasseter

Writers: Andrew Stanton
Peter Docter
Jim Reardon

Starring: Ben Burrt
Elissa Knight
Sigourney Weaver
Jeff Garlin
Fred Willard
John Ratzenberger
Kathy Najimy

Rating: G
Running Time: 98 minutes

My rating: 3 ´ out of 4 stars