Planet 51 (2009)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Excellent, a Must See

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Lem(voiced by Alvin & The Chipmunks Justin Long),is a nerdy alien who's got a crush on an alien girl (voiced by Mrs Justin Timberlake Jessica Biel)who likes Lem as well but she doesn't know that he likes her too. Meanwhile we are introduced to a very charming astronaut named Chuck (voiced by Dwayne The Rock Johnson who I swear can be a bit annoying in this flick at times) enters Lem's world and befriends him while Lem's people thinks that Chuck is an alien,when in actual fact its Lem's people that are aliens,but when this military alien(voiced by Gary Oldman)and a Professor (voiced by Swan Princess and Shrek 2 and 3 star John Cleese) wants to get rid of Chuck, will Chuck ever see his world ever again?The story is kinda bland and the humor isn't that bad,the animation is good and the charcthers are OK.Overall it wasn't a bad film,some of it was funny but don't go expecting a great flick like Tangled or How To Train Your Dragon which are two of my all time favourite CGI movies of all time. Bottom line Planet 51 is an average kids film that centers on aliens (actually this movie reminds me of the 2006 film Monsters Vs Aliens as that contains aliens too and a human befriending the aliens like Susan for example and Chuck who befriended aliens.I'm giving it a 6 out of 10.

So, I remember the previews for this thing a few years back, but never had a chance to catch it. I saw it on the shelf at a place that sells used DVDs, and took a chance. I was mildly amused. It was good. Not outstanding, but pretty decent. Fun, funny, adventurous, what more could you want?I liked the animation, the premise, even the story and the voice acting. It was all very good. I liked it. But, and there's always a "but" in my reviews (well ... mostly, anyway), I felt the setup wasn't given enough time. We all understand about the USAF's Area 51, and the fun being poked here, and the aliens being stuck in the developmental period equivalent of the 1950s was pretty clever, but the NASA Astronaut, his predicament and the humor derived therefrom is predicated on the notion that everyone's seen classic 1950's sci-fi B-movies. It's a tenuous theme on which to build a film.I saw those films growing up. I saw the original "The Thing", "The Blob", "Them", "Invasion of the Body Snathers", "The Three Stooges versus the Martians" and a whole slew of monster and sci-fi flicks that played on the fears of Red-Scared/anti-Communist 1950's America. Unlike most of the audience, I got all the references to various films of years gone by. I was there when Helen told Klaatu's robot "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!" I was there when Richard Graves fought giant locusts/Grasshoppers threatening Chicago (or was it Milkwaukee?). I was there when Robby the Robot bustled across an alien landscape in a sci-fi reincarnation of Jules Verne's classic about a man wanting to be left alone. I saw all those films, and tons more. But I have a hard time believing that parents, younger than me, and their children, also younger than me, will remember or even have knowledge of all of the sci- fi B-movie schlock that came out during the 50s and 60s. I just seems likely to me that the film's humor, for all of its good intentions, probably flew over the heads of a most of the people who enjoyed the film regardless.So, where's the harm? I suppose there really isn't any, but it would be nice to thing that the audience watching the thing would have an inclination of the references. But hey, that's just me.As for everything else? It's a finely crafted piece of CGI cinema. No shots are wasted. Everything looks as it should, and the characters, even the little robo-rover, shine with incredibly talented voice acting. No one misses a beat. Even John Cleese's paranoid super-genius professor gone wrong and gone haywire is right on the money, showing the audience how presumptuous scientists of yore could be when presenting their theories about how the world might work.The parents of the main character could have used a little bit more exposure in the meat of the film, and I think the girlfriend might have been a smidgen more proactive, but otherwise, like I say, it's a pretty decent watch.Lots of extras, a good story, good acting, good CGI, give it a whirl on the DVD player.Enjoy.

"Planet 51" is an above average animated comedy which reverses 1950s science fiction movies, in which paranoid humans chase after the UFOs and extra terrestrials hiding in their midsts, by placing a human astronaut on an alien planet. The alien planet is suffused with 1950s American pop cultural artifacts, references and trinkets.The film works fairly well as a comedy, drama and adventure, but is of interest mostly for its conceptual designs, which fans of retro art and 1950s iconography should find cosy.Like most of these films, "Planet 51's" message is wholly hypocritical. Here we have a film preaching individuality, free thinking and the importance of "testing the Gods with a hammer", which adopts a completely conformist and formulaic structure.The film epitomises Hollywood science fiction; always looking backwards, always pillaging the past and glamming up 1950s scifi tropes with modern CGI/effects. Few science fiction films are able to genuinely look ahead. Most should not even be classed as science fiction.7.5/10 – For kids only. Worth one viewing.

Hi fans,I've read many reviews here and while no doubt inspired by their personal viewing habits, etc., I can't help but wonder where our current cultures attitude towards enjoyment has gone.I am somewhere between crib and pulling one leg off banana peel and the other in the grave, and I thought this movie was way past amazing. It yes, had huge references to every movie you could imagine, but it was done so well with such class, that you wanted more. I do not understand the rejection to humor when its done so well, to the point your anticipation swells with every on screen pixel ;)When did America get so jaded that our expectations became so large ? Sometimes its better to just close ones mind to nothing but fun, because in this case thats precisely what you get.I totally get that some movies contain some bad acting; maybe the actors weren't into the part who knows, but in this case not so. It's a joy ride from beginning to end, although I think it barely holds onto its family rating in places. Those parts could have been left out, or remade with a bit more creativity towards the PG-13 side of things . I think we are continuing to push the boundaries of what is considered PG-13, and I'm not entirely happy about it. Where is it written that we need such visuals in a movie to keep peoples attention ? ;) Movies like 'The Forbidden Planet' come to mind. It even holds up well in this century.The animation was wonderful, the conversation witty, dynamic and well acted and the plot was simple yes and fairly predictable, but definitely not without spontaneity.I made a list of all the cute movie references I found, but I shall do it on my new movie website another time,so stay tuned.Minus the few questionable scenes I found, its definitely one for family night, if you enjoy amazing cartoon visuals set in a sci-fi theme , very nicely voiced and packed with humor.5,4,3,2,1....blastoff to laughter ;)