Fly Me to the Moon (2008)

Too many fans seem to be blown away

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

The animation in this wasn't too bad, and the story wasn't the most original concept (surprisingly sentient characters, in this case flies, piggybacking on an existing human story or adventure), but still entertaining enough for a kiddie/family cartoon movie.What made this awful was the voice acting by the kids that voiced the three main characters. All of the others were passable, but dialogue between those three made me feel like I was sitting through a table-reading in a second grade classroom.I don't know if it was bad coaching or directing, or the kids themselves (who sounded just fine in the live-action features I've seen featuring them). Regardless, this was one prime example of a studio being so obsessed with finding a voice that was even mildly recognizable that they passed on quality.That awkward line-reading made it almost seem as though they made the rest of the movie and then found kids to read the words that had already been animated, or as if they just plugged in dialogue from a read-through when they auditioned. All entertainment would cease as soon as the main characters started talking, and we just sat and waited impatiently for them to finish awkwardly pushing out their lines.Ugh. Good job pushing this piece of crap instead of funding 3 or 4 other productions that may have been worth watching.

It is pretty surreal what these flies can do... eh well... this is a cartoon, so anything can happen in it.At first I must tell you that I love animated movies. Unfortunately this year's repertoire is very weak. This cartoon is nothing but a list of flaws:1) I quoted the tag line. It suggests that this movie has great 3D effects. Well, I did not see any, at least not something special I never saw before.2) The "flies" in this movie look nothing like real flies. At least they could've make them black. But cyan flies, seriously? With giant heads and slim torsos?3) The story. I guess it was written for 6 year old kids. I could tell it in two sentences it is so over simplified.4) Excessive patriotism. For example: "They are American files after all!" Oh, give me a break.

A kid's film is a kid's film. Simple as that, and not every single one needs to have the grown-up's interest themes or jokes as in Shrek, or the elaborate musical numbers. Younger kids want a bit of action, humour and fun little characters they can love to watch. Add in a good simple feel good story with some adventure, and that is a great formula for a kid's film; and that is the premise and basis of the animated movie: "Fly me to the Moon".The film is simply about 3 young friends (who are bees) who decide to hitch a lift with Buzz Aldrin & co to the Moon, back in the 1960s. Their mothers don't know about it, the Soviet Officials (flies again!) don't like it and they themselves are simply wide-eyed about the whole thing. Along the way, there's thrills and fun for young kids. They can relate to the humour and the characters (out to seek adventure and all that).The added plus is that this is a fully 3D-animated film, and for the first time i've ever seen that the 3D animation effects are astoundingly good and actually work. Having watched Jaws 3D and the like in my youth, I was not expecting much and had to eat my words when viewing this. Watching this in the IMAX, the opening scene with the rocket launch made my eyes almost pop out, it was like as if the rocket was coming off the screen! I'm surprised and disappointed with much of the negative criticisms in the forum reviews on this movie. I don't practically ever watch kids movies, but got dragged to this by my nephew & niece, and can say that it was worth it. All loved it, as did all the kids in the audience from what I could see. It does as it says on the tin.Maybe Shrek, Toy Story et al have more going for them in many ways, but as a film in itself "Fly me to the moon" deserves credit for entertainment & enjoyment for young kids in particular who want to see a film they can fully understand and enjoy. One to sit back and enjoy, but most importantly if you can watch this in 3D in the cinema then that's where you'll enjoy it the most.

I read today a horrible review for this film by yet another jaded reviewer. It was by far one of the nastiest reviews I've read by one of these monkeys in a long time. Look, this is not a perfect film, but it is neither a bad film. So often reviewers seem to want all films to be Dr. Zivago or Gone With the Wind, or whatever is politically correct at the time. Point is, see movies for what they are intended to be. What a concept.So what is this film all about? It is a movie for kids that is in all honesty not up to Pixar standards, but not a bad film at all. The main purpose is to inspire a new generation of kids to explore and is very pro space exploration. It is so important to give young people something special to which they can aspire. As such, I think this film succeeds quite well. The 3D effects were very good, and definitely eye popping! So go and take they young ones, this is an event they will remember, and who knows, one day a man or woman may set foot on the moon or even Mars, and credit this film with inspiring them! That is what it is all about! The best review of this film came form a young girl, who as she exited the theater proclaimed to all, "this is the greatest film ever!". That review from the target audience pretty much says it all!