Planet 51 – Review
Sometimes it’s alright to just enjoy a flick for what it is. Even when the flick is an average animated flick that doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Planet 51, the new flick penned by Shrek writer Joe Stillman is a pretty standard issue family flick that offers up standard issues laughs.
The story centers around Lem (Justin Long) a shy little green man that lives on Planet 51 and is doing his best to get his life together. He just landed a new job, is working on landing the girl of his dreams, and is doing his best to move past his adolescent interests. In the midst of his good fortune an alien lands in his back yard. Actually, the alien is human astronaut, Captain Charles “Chuck” Baker (Dwayne Johnson). The citizens of Planet 51 are terrified by the visitor that they believe will turn them into zombies with just a passing glance. So it quickly becomes evident after the the planet’s military, led by General Grawl (Gary Oldman) decides to capture the hostile human, that Lem must help his new friend get home.
There were lots of pop culture references in the flick that were obviously aimed at the older audience members, but that didn’t stop the children in the crowd from enjoying the it. The light tone set by the inhabitants of Planet 51 reminded me of the old black and white science fiction movies of the ’50s, and the abundance of fart and body fluid jokes kept my kids laughing.
Some of the characters were extremely similar to characters we’ve seen on the animated screen lately (Wall-E), and the pop culture references (Star Wars, Grease) seemed to be complete misfires for the younger audience members. The animation itself was pretty solid, but nothing that we haven’t seen before. The muted green colors seemed to blur the beautifully rendered landscapes together, making the impact of the animation appear weaker than it should have been.
The filmmakers tried hard to create a fun movie and for the most part they accomplished their goal. Sure, the flick could have been a little more original, it could have relied less on cheap jokes, but it also could have sucked and it didn’t. Planet 51 is an enjoyable animated flick that the whole family can enjoy together. It isn’t the best movie I’ve seen this year, hell it most definitely isn’t the best animated movie I’ve seen this year, but it kept my children smiling for its entire runtime and in my world that makes it a killer film.
Rating: 
