“Planet 51” (2009)

Planet 51

Brief Description:

An alien civilization is invaded by Astronaut Chuck Baker, who believes that the planet was uninhabited. Wanted by the military, Baker must get back to his ship before it goes into orbit without him.

(from IMDb)

Date: 2009

Genre: animated science fiction comedy

Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes 

Cast: 

Justin Long (Lem / Rover)

Dwayne Johnson (Captain Chuck Baker)

Jessica Biel (Neera)

Seann William Scott (Skiff)

Freddie Benedict (Eckle)

Gary Oldman (General Grawl)

John Cleese (Professor Kipple)

Mathew Horne (Soldier Vesklin)

James Corden (Soldier Vernkot)

Alan Marriott (Glar)

Rupert Degas (Chief Gorlock)

Director: Jorge Blanco

Production company: 

Ilion Animation Studios & HandMade Films International

Wikipedia page

Disclaimer to preface all this: no, I don’t believe in aliens. But I saw nothing wrong with a fantasy movie imagining a 1950s other world. Specially when throughout the movie there’s no weird alien claims made or anything. I really saw it more as an allegory than anything. 

Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 4/5

I liked how cute and 1950s-America-ish that planet is! It’s also amusing to see the differences between our world and that world, like their cars… ;P 

Characters: 4/5

I liked Lem a lot. He was very retable and had a great arc. Took him forever to decide to be a hero, which was, again, very relatable. ;P Neera was super cute and sweet and I loved her! Skiff and Eckle were hilarious—particularly Skiff—and Rover was adoooorable. So was that horrible black dog-like monstrosity that you just had to fall in love with by the end (so unfair). And Lem’s & Neera’s parents were awesome, even if they barely showed up. Vesklin & Vernkot were just great comedic sidekicks, and Glar too. Kipple was TERRIFYING and AWFUL, and so was the General… well… until… you’ll find out. ;P And finally, I know Chuck tried. It wasn’t that he wasn’t nice, it was just that his ego was about as big around as his helmet and I could never really like him much. 

Plot: 4/5

Admittedly, I didn’t get to listen to this with closed captions, so I missed some of the plot because I couldn’t get the dialogue. So there may be several parts I missed. Anyways. I really liked the plot as far as I saw it. The suspense was high (for me, anyways, because the clock was TICKING and the obstacles were MOUNTING and things just kept getting WORSE… even if it had to come out right in the end… right?? … I didn’t know, and it sure didn’t look like it would). Anyhow. I really liked how everything was set-up for the arrival of Chuck before we were dumped into the actual clock-ticking. There was plenty of humour and action, but also some cute/sweet scenes… I don’t know, I really liked it. And the ending is, like, perfect. 

Romance: 4/5

Just adorably cute and vintage, but with a great pursuit and seeking-good-character theme to add to it! 

Theme/Message/Topics: 5/5

Admittedly, my favourite part about the film is the themes. First, Lem’s arc. I deeply relate to his fear of the future, his lack of self-confidence, his frantic desire that nothing challenge his status quo and dreams… His arc of learning sacrifice and choosing the right thing, even if people couldn’t see it, was great. 

Second, the themes of prejudice and mass ignorance. The completely ridiculous ideas of the general populace about humans/Chuck was laughable, but also sobering. Not because of our own hysteria/assumptions about (possible) extraterrestrial life, but because of our assumptions/prejudice against fellow humans. The added sub-themes of the scientific ignorance (such as Kipple’s bogus ideas about zombies and mind control, and his methods of figuring the character and intentions of the astronaut he never met, and also the incorrect scientific “knowledge” about their own universe) was also powerful. And from that comes the final off-shoot theme of hating people because of fearing them because of not understanding them. As silly as Glar is, I love his message of peace and love against the general fear and hatred towards the “alien” astronaut. Neera’s declaration for them was good. 

Content: 4/5 (low)

In the scenes where Chuck is (about to be) brain-operated, he is bare and covered with a blanket. In a final brief scene shot in that room, you see a shot of his legs as he gets off the table and the blanket slips off. The extraterrestrials (Lem, Neeta, Skiff, & Eckle) all stare at him before Skiff remarks, “That’s an odd place for his antenna to be.” 

I don’t remember any other content besides possibly some mild euphemisms (can’t quite remember) and for those who care about it, 1950s music and dancing. I may have forgotten some other content.

Violence: 4/5 (low)

Mild violence like shooting, etc. Threat of brain operation; a shot where the saw is almost on Chuck’s head; & a scene where extraterrestrials are carried off with their brains in boxes. A scene where a bunch of soldiers get electrocuted; in a final scene, the army base blows up. 

Overall: 4/5

When my siblings sat down to watch this I was very skeptical, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit! I think it could probably be a family film with some fast-forwarding (but don’t quote me on it because again, I missed some of the plot & dialogue and forgot more ;P).