Planet 51

Review By: Michael Hill
MichaelHill@TheCinemaSource.com

Movie Grade: C+

The animation in Planet 51 is fantastic. The writing, however, could have used a bit more work. Kids will adore this movie as it has plenty of sight gags and zany characters and adults will enjoy the subtle, and sometimes blatant, nods to the 50’s and well-known sci-fi films. This is definitely a film for parents to take the kiddies to, as it is simple sugar coated cinema: fun, zany but perhaps not ultimately satisfying for the older members.

Justin Long stars as the typical “everyman” or rather “every-alien” Lem, whose life is quickly put into a tailspin with the landing of human astronaut Captain Charles T. Baker, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, in his backyard. The landing sequence is handled quite well and offers sight gags aplenty as well as more than a few laughs. While Lem and Baker comprise the main relationship of the film (Platonic of course, otherwise this would NOT be a kids film...) they never really seem to get past the typical “I’m going to teach you a life lesson and you’ll teach me one as well” friendship that plagues far too many animated films. Granted, this lesson isn’t shoe horned in as badly as it has been in other films, but it still feels like a “cue the sappy music” moment when Baker starts literally showing Lem there is more to the universe than he thought.

It’s clear the filmmakers wanted to show that Lem also teaches Baker as much about life and the universe as Baker does Lem. The trouble is that it never quite materializes in a definite manner so it feels as though the writing has been dumbed down to a children’s film level, which is why adults may not find it enjoyable beyond the slapstick moments.

Hands down, the most enjoyable relationship in the film is between the alien Skiff voiced by Seann William Scott and the NASA robot or “Rover”. Rover was sent down several years ago to conduct the initial survey of the planet, but instead of noticing there was life on the planet, it developed an addiction to fetching rocks like a dog would sticks. This character is sure to be the biggest hit of the film (and likely to sell the most toys come Christmas time) as it is similar to Wall-E and yet distinct enough to not leave the audience feeling like it was a complete rip-off of that other now famous robot.

Ultimately this is a film the whole family can enjoy together and while it may not be something people will be eagerly awaiting to watch time and again on DVD, it is a fun film worth sitting through once, sugar coating and all.

Movie Grade: C+

Synopsis:

American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world, and whose only ...