Planet 51 Movie Review
Ilion Animation/TriStar Distribute Film Starring Justin Long
Nov 19, 2009 Dominic von Riedemann
"Good artists borrow. Great artists steal."
Unfortunately, the makers of Planet 51 failed to read the addendum to that classic statement: artistic theft isn't worth a rat's . . . you know . . . unless you're using it to say something original and compelling. Much like the recent spate of unfunny 'spoof comedies' like Meet the Spartans and Epic Movie, Planet 51 is a sad mishmash of bits stolen from much better films without adding anything new to the party.
Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel and Dwayne Johnson Star in Ilion, Sony's Planet 51
Lem (Justin Long) is over the moon about his new job as assistant junior curator at the local Planetarium. A little green alien living on a planet that's stuck in the 1950's, he figures he has his life all figured out . . . as soon as he gathers the courage to ask obligatory love interest Neera (Jessica Biel) out on a date.
Cue a NASA lunar lander which lands in Lem's backyard, depositing Capt. Chuck Baker (Dwayne Johnson). Given that Attack of the Humaniacs II is the big film at the planet's local cinema, it's not surprising that Baker's arrival is cause for immediate hysteria. Add a slightly psychotic General Grawl (Gary Oldman) and an even more psychotic Professor Kipple (John Cleese) – whose mission in life is to harvest Baker's brain – and you have what could've been a fun little CGI animated film.
Unfortunately (there's that word again), someone didn't trust scriptwriter Joe Stillman's sense of humour. His major trick – learned when he helped script DreamWorks Animation's Shrek series – is to drop ripoffs (sorry, homages!) to popular and classic films into the story and hope that people giggle at them. It's a cute idea when used sparingly, but when it's generating roughly 90% of your laughs . . .
Viewers will swiftly find themselves playing 'spot the steal': even a casual glance will notice references to E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, WALL-E, Stagecoach, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Back to the Future, Alien (the Alien dog is even called Ripley. Ho. Ho. Ho.), Star Wars, Monsters vs. Aliens and even Singin' in the Rain.
Oh, and while we're at it, can using Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra (from 2001 A Space Odyssey) during a slow-motion reveal be considered grounds for justifiable homicide?
Sadly, it's only when Stillman drops the reference humour that the jokes start generating laughs. What's even more woeful is that the film is actually well-animated: the characters are cartoonish but attractively designed. Sure, there are a couple of cheats (Baker's hair never moves) but the animators get around them in some pretty smart ways.
The Final Analysis
With about 4 genuine laughs under its belt, Planet 51 isn't well set up for an ostensible comedy. The fact that its blatant steals end up becoming more annoying than funny, results in Planet 51 getting a 3/10.
Planet 51 poster
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