WALL-E Review

Messages: Lead characters WALL-E and EVE are extremely sympathetic. They're sweet, conscientious, loyal truth-seekers who are able to transcend technology and develop the capacity for love. EVE is dismissive of WALL-E at first, but she comes to appreciate his dedication. The human characters are a bit more flawed; they got into their predicament because of their own bad habits (particularly laziness, selfishness, and greed) -- which the movie is clearly taking a stand against. But in the end -- thanks in no small part to WALL-E -- they come around and appear to have the best intentions of making things right. Underlying the whole movie are messages about the dangers of over consumption and excessive waste; the vision of Earth as a garbage-strewn wasteland (and humans as hoverchair-bound lumps who can barely walk) speaks volumes.

Violence and scariness: A human does battle against a robot, which pokes him in the eye and tosses him around, but it's not too aggressive. Robot EVE has a powerful gun in one of her arms, which she doesn't hesitate to fire at possible threats (including, early on, WALL-E). At one point, in frustration, she sets off a series of vivid explosions in old oil tankers that could scare some very little kids. A gang of rogue robots faces off against similarly mechanical peacekeepers; their conflict is more funny than scary. Human characters are briefly in peril.

Sexy stuff: Gentle, sweet, understated romance blooms for two robots, as well as for a human couple.

Language: One use of the word "heck."

Consumerism: Excessive consumerism is one of the movie's themes. It's personified by the Buy N Large mega-corporation, which seems to own and operate everything in WALL-E's world. It's fictional, but its brand is everywhere.

Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue