Planet 51 (2009) (PG)

Planet 51 (2009) (PG)
Directed by Jorge Blanco
Voices by Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott

Daughter Says:

Planet 51 is the reverse of every alien movie put out there. The director of this created a civilization made up of many aliens. One day a human astronaut named Captain Charles T. Baker, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, comes down and well... doesn't do anything. He sees the aliens and runs the other way.

So now stranded on a planet covered with aliens and lost without his spaceship he must look for help in an unusual place. He has to ask an alien called Lem, voiced by Justin Long, for his help. That's where my problem begins, because one second Baker's scared of aliens and now he's thinking they're strange and talking to them. That was a bit strange for me. Anyway, Lem tries to help the guy out and gets into tons of trouble, just like any alien movie.

This movie was an okay movie. It wasn't my favorite animated movie but it just seemed like something fun to watch with your little brother if he wants.

So I rate Planet 51: ***.

Daddy Says:

Perhaps I've been spoiled by Pixar, but I really expect an animated movie to be better these days. Having an all-star cast and some pretty pictures just isn't enough anymore. Think back on any of the Pixar movies and you'll remember all the characters, what they said, what they stood for, what their motivations were, etc. I watched this about a week ago, and honestly cannot recall much of it at all.

Being a long time wrestling fan, I'm a big fan of Dwayne Johnson. But here, he does next to nothing vocally to bring any emotion to his astronaut character. Of course, the actors are let down by having to work with a script which doesn't seem to have been well thought out beforehand. Just one more thing that Pixar does better than any other animation company, they work many, many months before animation ever starts, just to get the script perfect. That way they know that they have a solid foundation to build on. In Planet 51, I have no idea why any of the characters acts the way they do, other than because the script tells them to do so.

I was very disappointed by this film. I feel that it took what was an interesting premise and failed to follow it up. It's storyline is predictable, it's characters one-dimensional, and worst of all, it just isn't funny.

Rating for Planet 51: *1/2