Wall-E

I know, I know. We’ve seen it before: robots with human characteristics. Robots in love. Number 5 is alive. Blade Runner. R2-D2. The loveable robot’s been done, right? Just because something’s been done, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for something to be done REALLY, REALLY well. This sublime Pixar feature understands what a “man” will go through to impress a woman who would just as soon shoot him down with a laser cannon. It scarily predicts we’re are all destined to become big, fat, wasteful slobs too dependant on technology. Wall-E understands things about love, duty and humanity. Like all good movies that anthropomorphize animals or inanimate objects, we could stand to learn a thing or two. The poignancy of Wall-E is profound. He has one job: to crush Earth waste into little cubes. He just wants to meet people. He just wants to hold hands. He’s lonely and he needs to connect, whether they’re perfect specimens like Eve, or the broken misfits who dare to be different and who help save the day anyway. 50 years from now, people will look back on this movie in amazement the way people look back on Bambi. Bet on it. So get off the phone and relate to people, before it’s too late.