The Movie:

Science fiction, since it, in many ways, came of age in the 1950's, has been a genre well-suited for film. And, of course, there have been so many memorable sci-fi moments in cinema: the countless black-and-white alien invasion epics of the '50s, the towering monolith of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the acid-bleeding creature of Alien. The list could go on and on.

It's this movie legacy that the computer-animated Planet 51 seeks to mine for its energy and sight gags. Directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad, and Marcos Martinez, Planet 51 envisions an alien society very similar to cartoonish conceptions of 1950's America (1951, perhaps?). The characters are green-skinned and have antennae, as popularly imagined Martians were at the time. They live in small towns, get excited about alien invasion films at the theater, and barbeque burgers in the backyard. All is clean-cut, wholesome, and conservative.

Lem (voiced well by Justin Long, who has been building a surprisingly varied entertainment career) is an apprentice astronomer at the planetarium servicing one of these towns on Planet 51. He's got a geeky friend named Skiff (Sean William Scott, channeling a nerdier version of his character in the funny live-action film Role Models) and a huge crush on the girl next door, Neera (Jessica Biel). Lem's life gets turned upside down, however, when a human astronaut named Chuck (The Rock . . . er, excuse me, Dwayne Johnson) lands in Lem's parents' backyard, sparking a paranoid panic and initiating a military intervention. Lem befriends Chuck and his robot Rover, and leads his friends in a rescue attempt when the military captures them.

And that's the movie in a nutshell. The plot isn't particularly complex and the twists are entirely expected - though that's not necessarily a criticism, as Planet 51 is a PG-rated romp aimed primarily for the younger set. Ironically, however, the riffing of 1950s culture and science-fiction films, which are the movie's strengths, will likely be appreciated primarily by those of us who have been around for more than one or two decades. My personal favorite is a recurring parody of the H.R. Giger-designed alien from the popular Fox movie franchise. Here, the alien is a dog that pees acid and is in a row with a teasing letter carrier. It shows up time from time - but screenwriter Joe Stillman doesn't over rely upon the character.

Outside of the humorous referencing of popular culture, I thought this movie was a bit bland. Sure, it has a lot of energy, and little kids will likely be entertained by it. But, I couldn't help but think that this movie's central plot is handled in a fairly straightforward and obvious manner. It's sporadically humorous; the best gag involves the alien military mistaking Chuck's IPod as a weapon when it plays the infamous "Macarena" song from the 1990s. The second half, however, feels perfunctory in its conflict and resolution. The movie wants to be feel-good, and that's precisely how it ends, in a paint-by-numbers style wrap-up involving all the relevant primary and secondary characters.

Still, one can't fault the vocal talent on display here. In addition to the castmembers already mentioned, Gary Oldman plays General Grawl, in typical army officer fashion from 1950s alien menace films like The War of the Worlds, and comedy legend John Cleese shows up as Professor Kipple, a pseudo-mad scientist with mistaken conceptions of us humans.

Ultimately, Planet 51 is a serviceable entry in the popular big screen computer animated family film genre. Science fiction junkies will likely get a kick out of the riffs on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Wall-E, and other fare. Recommended.

The DVD

Video:

Sony gives Planet 51 an anamorphic widescreen presentation with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio that reflects its original theatrical exhibition. Like most contemporary digitally animated motion pictures, Planet 51 looks great: strong colors and sharp details.

Sound:

Two audio tracks are available on this disc. The first is an English language Dolby Digital 5.1 that's suitably dynamic and strong. The second is an English language audio description track. I'd like to credit Sony for providing this track; in it, a woman narrates the proceedings of the film. I think these audio description tracks are a great idea, and it's a shame that they're so rare on DVD. The last time I can remember encountering one of them was on one of Universal's home video releases of their 1999 hit The Mummy.

In addition, subtitle options are provided in English, English SDH, and Spanish.

Extras:

Trailers precede the main menu for Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Open Season 3 {if one can call a very brief title sequence a trailer}, and Playmobil: The Secret of Pirate Island. They're also accessible in a Trailers menu option along with additional trailers for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Open Season, Open Season 2, Surf's Up, and Ice Castles.

Movie-specific extras are plentiful. For starters, Run Rover Run! Obstacle Course Game is a fairly simple 3-stage game that utilizes the menu arrows of the DVD player's remote control to navigate Rover through various obstacles.

Extended Scenes (2:50) are 3 in number, and they can be played collectively or individually.

The World of Planet 51 (2:55) sports shots of the alien town set to one of the songs produced for the film.

Life on Planet 51 (12:04) and Planetarium: The Voice Stars of Planet 51 (3:18) are more traditional DVD extras, with soundbyte comments from cast and crew spliced with scenes from the movie, with a particular emphasis on Justin Long.

Planet 51 Music Video Montage (2:50) is similar to The World of Planet 51, with scenes from the movie punctuated by the great song "Spaceman" from the band The Killers.

Animation Progression Reels (15:53) are 6 in number, and they can be played collectively or individually. This basically moves from storyboard concept to finished product.

Finally, a Want More Fun? menu link goes to a still advertising the Sony Wonder web site.

Final Thoughts:

Planet 51 is a relatively good PG-rated animated romp that sports a great vocal cast as well as funny riffs on 1950s Americana and classic science fiction films. The main plot becomes fairly perfunctory in the second half and may leave adult viewers thinking this could have been more creative than it is. Still, I'd give it a recommendation as I think it's worth a look and the kids it's targeting will likely be amused.

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