Planet 51

Deciding against the panto this year, we decided to go to the cinema, but unfortunately there were no big blockbuster films suitable for kids on at the time, so we decided on Planet 51.

Synopsis

Lem has just landed a new job, he’s just found out that the girl next door (who he’s had a thing about for years) likes him, and he’s doing great at college. Life couldn’t be better, well except for the hippy Glar, who is also interested in Neera. It’s a lovely afternoon, the food is cooking on the barbie and everyone is having fun, for all intents and purposes it’s a great day on 1950’s Earth. However this isn’t Earth, it’s Planet 51, Lem and his family and friends are little green men (and women).

Lem’s life is about to get complicated though, as Captain Charles T. Baker (Chuck) an Earth astronaut lands in his backyard, a proceeds to destroy (through no fault of his own) every part of Lem’s life.

Down at Area 9 (forget you’ve heard that), Rover comes back to life as Chuck’s ship comes into range. Rover is an AI probe (who has a thing for rocks) who’s programming tells him to seek out Chuck.

With the help of his best friend Skiff, and neighbour Eckle, can Lem get Chuck and Rover back to their ship, before General Grawl and Professor Kribble find them and dissect them.

Voice Cast

• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker
• Jessica Biel as Neera
• Justin Long as Lem and Rover (vocal effects)
• Seann William Scott as Skiff
• Gary Oldman as General Grawl
• John Cleese as Professer Kripple
• Ryan Rosenfeld as Marv

My Thoughts

I actually enjoyed this film even though I didn’t have high expectations. The animation is good, and unlike some of the newer films I’ve seen lately it’s not harsh, the characters have soft edges rather than the sharp features of the Japanese style films.

Chuck is a bit of a pratt when he first arrives, but soon becomes a really likeable character, and Lem is a cutsie character from the beginning. The voice actors seem to match the characters quite well, Dwayne Johnson is much better as a voice actor than an actual full blown actor, and John Cleese is good as the Professor.

There are a lot of references to other films in the movie, which adds a nice dimension, unless you’re too young to remember the original films of course, for example when Chuck first lands on the planet, the tune to 2001: A Space Odyssey is playing in the background, and Chuck begins to hum it, I got the joke, even if the kids didn’t. The same with the Singin’ in the Rain reference, although the kids were chuckling at that scene, they didn’t understand the significance of the song. Of course no space film would be complete without a reference to ET and Star Wars, and this one is no exception.

I think this is a pretty good film for kids and adults, there are plenty of jokes just for grownups, and plenty of slapstick and wind related jokes for kids.