Planet 51 (2010)

'Planet 51' was the last thing showing at our local theatre that I hadn't already seen. The previews and lobby displays (mis)led me to believe it was just another throwaway kids' cartoon, full of forced cuteness, predictable gags, and cardboard characters; but I had time to kill and the ticket was at matinee price, so I finally went in. Am I ever glad I did!

The obvious send-up of 1950s American culture is fun, and so is the shoe-on-the-other-foot twist of the human being viewed as the fearful alien menace, but if that's all a viewer takes away, he or she is missing a lot. There was plenty of unexpected satire that had me laughing out loud through much of the film. There is also a profound message that centering one's society around perpetual fear can cause more harm to a culture's core values than the thing being feared; however, the message very carefully doesn't get in the way of the humanity (alienity?) of the story.

The music was well done and really enhanced the fun. Visually, I loved the film. Character design wasn't anything particularly special, but the look of the planet itself was gorgeous. This is a cartoon, after all, not an overblown CGI extravanganza like Avatar, so you shouldn't expect photorealistic rendering of every tiny detail. The beauty of this kind of artwork is in the imaginative forms and colors, the simplicity of shapes and lines that enhance the story, not overwhelm it.

Actually, having brought the subject up, I suppose many comparisons and contrasts could be drawn that make Planet 51 a kind of Anti-Avatar. Here, the humans are neither conquering villains, nor paternalistic hero figures. People--er, beings--from both sides have to do their part on Planet 51 to bridge the misunderstanding of cultures and enable goodwill to prevail. That may not be the kind of dramatic plot it takes to engage some viewers' attention these days, yet it's exactly the sort of solid but gentle storytelling one should expect from the offspring of George Harrison's Handmade Films.

Plus, so far as I can tell, no one has yet suffered depression after viewing Planet 51. :)

My six year old son laughed throughout this movie. Tons of song and movie references (everything from Singing in the Rain to Alien) kept the adults interested, too. I was really surprised that a movie rated as having 'minor violence' actually opened with [story-within-a-story] footage of ray guns disintegrating people, but it didn't turn out too violent for us as a whole. I would think twice before showing it to a younger or more sensitive kid, though.

I think this movie is really underappreciated. It didn't have the most spectacular graphics ever, and the love story was admittedly predictable, but the altered perspective humans as aliens! was compelling, and the cultural references made for non-stop amusement. The adorable Rover alone would be enough reason to watch it again.

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I really liked this movie. It had an awesome storyline. I loved that it was set during the 1950's on Planet 51, but is modern day on Earth, because I really enjoy 50's pop culture. Lem is an 'alien' who thinks that the Galaxy is only 500 miles long. On a typical day, an astronaut named Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker lands on the planet and thinks he's the first, but he was dead wrong. All the residents believe Chuck is an alien who wants to eat their brains and turn them into zombies. Lem befriends Chuck and finds out that he's a good guy. The military take over Chuck's ship so they can dissect it. If Chuck doesn't get back to his ship in time, he will never be able to return to Earth. I highly recommend PLANET 51!!!

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I had stayed away from this movie because of all the negative reviews, but my husband persuaded me to give it a try since it was playing at the dollar theater. We also brought our 5-year-old daughter along, thinking this was going to be a kids' movie. Well, though our daughter was entertained, I think this movie is best appreciated by adults who can grasp all of the pop culture references, especially those 50s sci-fi flicks. If you fall into this latter category, chances are you'll be entertained, as my husband and I (both movie buffs) were. The visuals are bright and colorful, and serve to keep kids' interest.

The story itself is a kind of twist instead of human being invaded by aliens (as was so typical of 50s sci-fi flicks), here we have an alien culture who are terrified of a human astronaut who inadvertently lands on their planet. The entire planet is populated by a race of green creatures with antennaes, and they all embrace the music of the 50s, read 50s comics, and generally live out the era. Chuck the astronaut's (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) arrival is greeted with horror as these green guys have come to perceive those not of their planet as humanoids, and it falls upon hapless teenager Lem (Justin Long), his best friend Skiff (Seann William Scott) and the girl of Lem's dreams, Neera (Jessica Biel) to 'rescue' Chuck. The baddies here are played by General Grawl (Gary Oldman) and mad scientist Kipple (a hammy John Cleese). When the story lags, it uses Chuck's cute robot dog Rover for gags. The movie references lots of classic movies such as Star Wars, Singing in the Rain, E.T., etc. which though hardly original makes it fun and entertaining.

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We love this movie, my 2 year old son has been watching it since we first saw it come on Starz and he absolutely loves Planet 51. From beginning to end it is a clever and entertaining movie for old and young.