BEFORE: Out playing trivia tonight, my team was defending its championship from two weeks ago, but tonight we came up short and only made it to fourth place. That didn't leave me much time for a film, so a shorter animated film is warranted.
I'm back-tracking a bit to "Avatar", and riffing off the theme of humans invading an alien world. And another birthday SHOUT-out, #22, goes to Gary Oldman (last seen in "The Fifth Element") who does a voice of (I'm guessing) the lead villain. Linking from "Repo Men", Jude Law was in "Closer" with Natalie Portman, who was in "The Professional" with Gary Oldman.
THE PLOT: American astronaut 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.
AFTER: There's an awful lot here that doesn't make sense, but it is a movie for the kids, so perhaps some allowances should be made. The bigger question should be, is it entertaining? Yes, I suppose. It's sort of neat to see a twist on the usual "alien-invasion" films of the 1950's. Of course, we identify with the American astronaut, but the culture on Planet 51 is so like Earth's, it's easy for the audience to identify with them too.
They have houses, cars (circular ones, but still), comic-book shops, a planetarium, and music that's amazingly similar to Earth songs from the 1950's. Good thing that the alien planet doesn't look too alien! And they speak English, American English even! The astronaut and lead alien character marvel at the fact they can understand each other - but it's not really explained, so I suppose that has to be NITPICK POINT #1. What are the chances against English developing on another world, one that doesn't even have an England? Good thing it wasn't Polish, or Swahili!
NITPICK POINT #2 - How does the astronaut survive the long trip from Earth to Planet 51, and back? The ship doesn't seem to travel at faster-than-light speeds, he doesn't seem to use a hibernation or deep-freeze chamber, and of course he doesn't have enough food to survive the decades-long trip. Am I being too technical?
Lots of references to other films, perhaps a bit too many - "Star Wars", "Alien", "Singin' in the Rain", "Terminator", "Grease", and "Full Metal Jacket", just to name a few. Are kids really going to get all of those?
I'm not quite sure what the take-away message is for the kids, either. Be yourself? Loosen up? Make friends with an alien? Fight the military-industrial complex? Maybe the message would have been a little clearer without so many characters bumping into things and falling down all the time.
Also starring the voices of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (last seen in "Be Cool"), F.O.T.B. Justin Long (last seen in "He's Just Not That Into You"), Jessica Biel (last seen in "Valentine's Day"), Seann William Scott (last seen in "The Promotion"), and John Cleese (last seen in "The Day the Earth Stood Still").
RATING: 4 out of 10 protest signs
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