Review: Planet 51
Posted November 20, 2009 12:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If you’re between the ages of 2 and 6, you could possibly enjoy Planet 51. Anyone not in that age range (I’m talking to you adults who will be stuck taking the kids) will be so annoyed and irritated that, after the first 10 minutes, outbursts of anger and swearing could very likely overcome you.
The occupants on Planet 51 are not much different than on Earth. They speak English and live in a ’50s-style era with white picket fences and home milk delivery. They work, play, have family BBQ night, and are scared of being attacked by aliens that will turn them into mindless zombies. So when American astronaut Chuck Baker (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) lands in a suburban-esque backyard, the little green people think he’s a monster and try to kill him.
Separated from his ship, Baker ends up hiding at the local Planetarium where Lem (voiced by Justin Long), one of 51s brightest young people, stumbles upon him sleeping under a desk. After the initial shocked reaction of finding an “alien”, Lem settles down and listens to Baker’s plea, being that if he doesn’t make it back to his ship in 36 hours the ship will leave and he’ll be stranded on 51 forever. What follows is a bunch of unoriginal scenes of pure silliness that reference every space and sci-fi film ever made in the most annoying way possible.
There’s lots of other characters and plot devices used in an attempt to make Planet 51 entertaining, but it fails on all accounts. Bad cover songs of ’50s classics like Lollipop, weak animation that looks like a made-for-TV Saturday morning show, and voices with no power (Johnson and Long are joined by Jessica Biel, Seann William Scott, Gary Oldman, and John Cleese, and they are all flat) make this not only the worst animated film of the year, but one of the worst films of the year – period.
More enjoyable animated fare this year like Coraline, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and the upcoming Fantastic Mr. Fox work because the filmmakers didn’t dumb them down for the target audience. Kids are smart and don’t need to be spoon-fed entertainment. Planet 51 uses about the same level of brain cells as a dog that sticks his head out of car window to let his tongue flap in the breeze. At one point I think I even drooled on myself because I felt like I was getting more stupid by the minute while watching this atrocity.
* out of 5 stars
Rated PG
Voices of: Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Jessica Biel
Directed by: Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad, Marcos Martinez
Official Site IMDb
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK: The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Precious, Mary and Max, The Blind Side
Top image: Lem and Chuck in Planet 51. Courtesy Alliance Films.
