WALL-E

SORRY to break this to you, but if you loved Pixar's previous animated movies such as Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and Toy Story, WALL-E won't really be your cup of tea.

Initially set here on Earth at some point in the (near) future, the film finds our mechanical hero, WALL-E, with the enviable task of clearing up the planet after millions of feckless humans who have literally trashed the place.

They've all upped-sticks and headed for the stars on an enormous cruise liner-type spaceship, leaving the planet to rack and ruin with only an army of robots remaining, all of which – but one – have stopped working.

WALL-E finds love in the shape of robot Eve, sent from the space-going liner to look for signs of life on the surface, sparking a series of events which ends in the predictable mayhem.

There are certain vague parallels to be drawn with our own self-destructive treatment of the planet, but that's as far as it goes.

Whereas Pixar's biggest hits can be read on a number of levels, making them enjoyable for young and old – for completely different reasons, this latest effort is pretty one-dimensional and appears to be geared solely towards the kids with a 'save the planet' message thrown in for good measure.

The animation, particularly the scenes on Earth, is brilliant, but with 40 minutes until the first words are spoken there is little else to capture the imagination, and even when dialogue does begin properly, it's as weak as you might expect.

There are still some laugh-out-loud moments for the grown-ups, but they're fairly thin on the ground and don't make up for what is essentially a fancy cartoon for the little ones.