Wall-E

I’m afraid I can’t join Frank Rich and all the rest of the critics on the Wall-E bandwagon, nor share my grown daughter’s enthusiasm. Sure, he’s a cute little cuss -- for a trash compactor. And sure, it’s surprising to see Walt Disney Inc. come out against consumerism. And wow, Pixar can do anything it wants with computer animation, and get away with it through sheer visual splendor. (I gather director Andrew Stanton was previously responsible for Finding Nemo.) I was definitely into the Chaplinesque first half, but when the action/adventure component started to accelerate I just began to tune out. I guess I’m the opposite of the grade school crowd -- what you have to do to maintain their attention loses mine. Nonetheless I grant that this highly-animated animation is something to see, witty and even scathing about humankind’s mania for consumption, with an endearing romance between two robots separated by centuries of technogical development -- as different as 8-track tapes and iPods. I was also a little bothered by the parallels to Battlestar Galactica, and could not keep from thinking of Wall-E as the nicest Cylon of them all -- is he the yet-to-be-revealed 12th model? It would be a fine irony if this turns out to be the biggest grossing film of the year. (2008, Images, n.) *7-* (MC-94.)