Planet 51 (2009)

Directors:

Jorge Blanco
Javier Abad (co-director)

Writer:

Joe Stillman (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Something strange is coming to their planet...Us!

Plot:

American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world, and whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders...like Chuck!

Plot Keywords:

Digit In Title | Scene During End Credits | Number In Title

US Showtimes:

Beverly Center Cinemas

12:05pm | 2:25 | 4:45

(personalize)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Dwayne Johnson	...	Captain Charles T. Baker (voice)
Jessica Biel	...	Neera (voice)
Justin Long	...	Lem (voice)
Gary Oldman	...	General Grawl (voice)
Seann William Scott	...	Skiff (voice)
John Cleese	...	Professor Kipple (voice)
Freddie Benedict	...	Eckle (voice)
Alan Marriott	...	Glar (voice)
Mathew Horne	...	Soldier Vesklin (voice)
James Corden	...	Soldier Vernkot (voice)
Lewis Macleod	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Rupert Degas	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Rebecca Front	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Vincent Marzello	...	Additional Voice (voice)
Emma Tate	...	Additional Voice (voice)

Also Known As:

Planet One (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor.

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

Spain | UK | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #45479) | Singapore:G | Australia:PG | UK:U | South Africa:PG | Ireland:G | New Zealand:PG | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Brazil:Livre | Portugal:M/4 (Qualidade) (dubbed version) | Portugal:M/6 (Qualidade) (original version) | Denmark:7

Company:

Ilion Animation

Trivia:

One of the hippies is holding a sign which reads "Make like, not war".

Goofs:

Continuity: A lander only has enough fuel to take off once from the planet, not twice. We don't see Chuck fuel the spaceship before taking off again.

Quotes:

Lem: What do we do now?
Captain Charles T. Baker: Give them their minimum daily dose of Chuck.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Grease (1978)

Soundtrack:

Glar's Lament

Didn't quite match expectations, but a fun watch

It's an "ET-in-reverse" story. An Earthling astronaut gets stuck on what he calls an alien planet. The local green folks call him (accurately) the alien. The story is a fond tribute to drive-in's, space-creatures sci-fi, and the 50's. With the Area 51 reference in its title, you know the film will be poking fun at everything it can get its hands on, including itself. It delivers this.

There's hover craft that look like big-finned autos of that era, black & white TV, and pioneer rock 'n' roll. It's clever humor, although some of this has been done before. There's a lot of parallels to Monsters vs. Aliens, too, in that frequent references to classic sci-fi flicks (up to the present, not just the 50's) pop up in sight gags and one-liner jokes. My fav was the character that resembled the Aliens movie creatures. There are other clichés sent up for satire: a loud mouth hawkish general, a wanna-be scientist, etc. Adults won't be bored thanks to these in-jokes, and the kids should like the slapstick stuff.

The film boasts a great idea, and some, but not all, of the potential is utilized. It's good natured and fun, rating about average for an animated feature.