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WALL-E, a robot who looks like Johnny-5 from "Short Circuit" and is tasked with cleaning up the Earth while humans vacation in space, is hopelessly lonely and desperate for companionship. So when EVE, a robot who looks like a cross-breed of a Wii remote and a garbage can, arrives on Earth, befriends him and then is whisked onto the human ship, WALL-E follows in the spirit of finding true robot love.

Big question: Can writer-director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo") help Disney-Pixar maintain its flawless track record and somehow top Brad Bird's brilliant "Ratatouille"?

Catch it: Simply beautiful. Pixar, so skilled at giving inhuman items complete personalities, provides so much visual imagination (amid minimal dialogue) that it might take a little drool before you realize your mouth is agape at the futuristic world unfolding on screen. The jokes elicit more grins than laughs, but that smile will stand firm for hopeless romantics, animation buffs and anyone who's still got an inner child.

Skip it: If you're too fed up with broken promises in politics to see the people onboard celebrating the 700-year anniversary (the "septua-centennial") of an outer-space cruise that was only planned to take five years. Um, no comment.

Bottom line: In its look at persistent robots and humans waiting around for their problems to be solved, "WALL-E" is a gorgeous, touching reminder that we may already be more passive and monotonous than the technology that's designed to be that way. Though the people aren’t as interesting as the robots, this is the most unique Pixar movie yet and, hands-down, the best love story of the year.
 
Bonus: The people of the future consume all their meals from a cup. Not only is it more convenient, it saves tons of dishwashing time!

Video: Watch the review of 'Wall-E'

What do you think of 'Wall-E'? Email me: mpais@tribune.com

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