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Cast your mind back to 1982 when the world was introduced to its most beloved alien specimen; E.T.
Remember how those little kids harboured E.T behind their parents’ backs, vying to get him home without any intervention from the dreaded, insensitive authorities?
Well, imagine someone else made another movie with the same premise but instead, the extra terrestrial is, in fact, a human stranded on a planet far away from our own. Wouldn’t that be a crazy plot twist no one would expect in a thousand years? Well, maybe.
The town of Glipforg, on Planet 51, is populated by little green people who live in a more technologically advanced version of the 1950s. Everyone is pretty darn chipper and despite the fact that it’s raining rocks, everything is good, especially for Lem. He just got a job in the local space museum and feels like everything is looking up. Until, typically, a spaceship lands in his neighbourhood containing an astronaut from NASA, the frankly irritating, Chuck Baker (voiced by The Rock: Dwayne Johnson).
Naturally, panic ensues and everyone is terrified, including Chuck who runs away only to be hunted down by the war mongering military. Lem finds Chuck, they obviously come to an understanding and with the help of his friends, work on trying to get him home before time is up and Chuck’s ship leaves without him.
Since Glipforg is set in the 1950s it makes for some interesting and enjoyable pop culture references but when Chuck is introduced, he destroys the fun with cheap references from late 20th/ 21st century that are really one too many.
Parodied extracts from The Terminator and an iPod mistakenly playing the Macarena are what passes for humour in this one.
I’m sure children will love it, and I guess that’s really the main aim my cynicism aside, but these lightweight comic attempts belittle the toon’s attempt to bring the story home on more than one level. It undoes the film’s initial charming appeal and renders the once-quirky dialogue embarrassing.
One thing I’m puzzled by is that they seem to make Chuck’s character so unbelievably annoying on purpose. The rest of the cast, though they were stock, were enjoyable enough but Chuck is just a big pile of face palm – I don’t know whether this was another attempt to make some piece of inane 21st century commentary but it skipped by this reviewer. He was literally an idiot. At one point, during a very weak heart to heart with Lem he even admitted to that fact, to my own satisfaction.
The only reason I enjoyed Planet 51 was for the beautiful animation and the design of the planet’s inhabitants and location. During the majority of the movie it was fantastical to peer into the background, examining cars, looking out for a bit of 50s pop culture to enjoy and listening to the great music of the period.
The creators must be commended for choosing to set the story at a time when the world was obsessed with space travel and alien life forms more so than any other period.
There are some nice casting decisions and one could feasibly label this an all-star number – despite the addition of The Rock. Horne and Corden, John
Cleese, Gary Oldman, The British are there – and in stealth.
While creativity is fleeting in this movie when it comes to plot, dialogue, character development and humour but it is exceedingly pretty and I’m sure, while it may never be the next Shrek, Toy Story or even Monsters Vs Aliens it is very entertaining for little ones – if not as much as the aforementioned are for the grown-ups.
Remember how those little kids harboured E.T behind their parents’ backs, vying to get him home without any intervention from the dreaded, insensitive authorities?
Well, imagine someone else made another movie with the same premise but instead, the extra terrestrial is, in fact, a human stranded on a planet far away from our own. Wouldn’t that be a crazy plot twist no one would expect in a thousand years? Well, maybe.
The town of Glipforg, on Planet 51, is populated by little green people who live in a more technologically advanced version of the 1950s. Everyone is pretty darn chipper and despite the fact that it’s raining rocks, everything is good, especially for Lem. He just got a job in the local space museum and feels like everything is looking up. Until, typically, a spaceship lands in his neighbourhood containing an astronaut from NASA, the frankly irritating, Chuck Baker (voiced by The Rock: Dwayne Johnson).
Naturally, panic ensues and everyone is terrified, including Chuck who runs away only to be hunted down by the war mongering military. Lem finds Chuck, they obviously come to an understanding and with the help of his friends, work on trying to get him home before time is up and Chuck’s ship leaves without him.
Since Glipforg is set in the 1950s it makes for some interesting and enjoyable pop culture references but when Chuck is introduced, he destroys the fun with cheap references from late 20th/ 21st century that are really one too many.
Parodied extracts from The Terminator and an iPod mistakenly playing the Macarena are what passes for humour in this one.
I’m sure children will love it, and I guess that’s really the main aim my cynicism aside, but these lightweight comic attempts belittle the toon’s attempt to bring the story home on more than one level. It undoes the film’s initial charming appeal and renders the once-quirky dialogue embarrassing.
One thing I’m puzzled by is that they seem to make Chuck’s character so unbelievably annoying on purpose. The rest of the cast, though they were stock, were enjoyable enough but Chuck is just a big pile of face palm – I don’t know whether this was another attempt to make some piece of inane 21st century commentary but it skipped by this reviewer. He was literally an idiot. At one point, during a very weak heart to heart with Lem he even admitted to that fact, to my own satisfaction.
The only reason I enjoyed Planet 51 was for the beautiful animation and the design of the planet’s inhabitants and location. During the majority of the movie it was fantastical to peer into the background, examining cars, looking out for a bit of 50s pop culture to enjoy and listening to the great music of the period.
The creators must be commended for choosing to set the story at a time when the world was obsessed with space travel and alien life forms more so than any other period.
There are some nice casting decisions and one could feasibly label this an all-star number – despite the addition of The Rock. Horne and Corden, John
Cleese, Gary Oldman, The British are there – and in stealth.
While creativity is fleeting in this movie when it comes to plot, dialogue, character development and humour but it is exceedingly pretty and I’m sure, while it may never be the next Shrek, Toy Story or even Monsters Vs Aliens it is very entertaining for little ones – if not as much as the aforementioned are for the grown-ups.
:] Taken from www.geeks.co.uk. Thanks!
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"Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously."
"Life has become immeasurably better since I have been forced to stop taking it seriously."
