Film Review: Planet 51

Yeah, so a fifties style community is going along nicely, the main character, Lem, has the job he wants and is working up the courage to ask the girl of his dreams if she'll go out with him. Voiced by Justin Long, he's your normal guy, with his friend who believes that aliens will come to their planet and invade and turn everyone into zombies.

If this sounds boringly familiar, then wait for the next part.

The alien who invades, looks like your average astronaut, and is somewhat shocked to find that the planet he lands on to have an "alien" population. Which creates a bit of confusion when the astronaut, voiced by Dwayne The Rock Johnson, claims that Lem is the alien, not him.

The other recognisable voices include John Cleese, Jessica Biel and Gary Oldman.

Directed by Jorge Blanco and co directed by Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez, this animated film is a refreshing take, that turns the Alien genre upside down, literally. And manages to sneak in a few references to popular films of the same genre.

Funny, nicely paced and with a fun soundtrack, this film kept me entertained all the way through.

Comments

  1. Film & TV Commentator17 May 2011 at 01:22

    Another two different quotes, this first from another animated film. The other is from an alien/action genre movie.

    “Woody: That wasn't flying! That was... falling with style!”

    “[Hiller opens the spaceship, the alien screams, Hiller smacks him in the head] Captain Steven Hiller: [beat] Welcome to earth.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Film & TV Commentator17 May 2011 at 01:35

    Part two of the last quote:

    [Talking to the unconscious alien he's dragging] ‘Y'know, this was supposed to be my weekend off, but noooo. You got me out here draggin' your heavy ass through the burnin' desert with your dreadlocks stickin' out the back of my parachute. You gotta come down here with an attitude, actin' all big and bad...’
    ‘And what the hell is that smell?!’[Starts kicking the alien, yelling] ‘I could've been at a barbecue!’ [Kicks the alien one last time and calms down] ‘But I ain't mad.’”

    ReplyDelete

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