Review Shooter: Planet 51

Planet 51 is a 2009 animated/CG feature with the voices of Justin Long and The Rock. The movie deals with an alien invasion of the unlikely kind as an alien planet is invaded by a human (The Rock). How does it fare?

What We Liked:

• Its a fun movie, sure you can tell its written for kids, but it has its charm.
• The “dogs” in the movie including one that spews acid it seems and another which is a space rover.
• The voice cast for the most part is pretty solid.

What We Didn’t Like:

• The set-up. Yeah the twist/idea is an interesting one, but I feel the joke plays itself out within the first 5 minutes of the movie. We get it they are aliens, but they are just like us… well just like us in the 50s it seems.
• This is just me and maybe its because I’m also a wrestling fan, but its so odd to hear The Rock’s voice coming out of a Caucasian character. And I realize how that sounds, but I just felt that way.
• The secondary characters including the love interest and the hippie who is trying to get into her pants feels woefully underdeveloped and we are somehow meant to care about them? More importantly, we’re supposed to care when/if she gets with the main character.
• I don’t think they ever explain the Planet 51 name. Sure its a reference to Area 51 on Earth, but the alien base is called Area 9 or something along those lines, and I don’t believe the movie ever gives you any indication that its the 51st planet or whatever!

All in all, I would recommend rental/streaming if you are bored. It isn’t a bad movie, its just not really that special.