The story follows Lem (voiced by Justin Long), a teenage astronomy fan who works at the local observatory. He pines for his next door neighbor Neera (voiced by Jessica Biel), who ends up getting in tow with some beatnik protester types. Their community is rocked when, on the eve of the release of the latest alien invasion movie, a genuine spaceship from another world lands in Lem's backyard. The alien turns out to be Captain Chuck Baker (voiced by Dwayne Johnson), a slightly obnoxious, fame-craving NASA astronaut with a heart of gold. Chuck and his robotic companion Rover are stranded on Planet 51 and only have hours to get in their capsule and return to their mothership before its automatic pilot sends it back to Earth. Lem reluctantly helps Chuck with his mission to get home, risking his own neck when they run afoul of the alien-hating, fear-mongering General Grawl (voiced by Gary Oldman).
The world and history of Planet 51 is never explained. Did their culture influence ours somehow? Or vice-versa? Either case seems unlikely given the story, but it strains even the most liberal suspension of disbelief to buy that there's another planet out there where the 1950s (and the music of Little Richard) somehow happened independent of America and its pop culture. But that's the least of the movie's problems. Planet 51 is a shoddy patchwork of ideas, visuals and gags from other, better sci-fi films. The 1950s-era setting is a rehash of Back to the Future. The dog is Giger's Alien. Rover is WALL.E, R2-D2 and Short Circuit all rolled into one. The story is essentially E.T., but with a human in the place of the extraterrestrial who is trying to get home. There's even a small District 9 homage (which is possible seeing as how Sony distributed both films), with the base where the aliens/humans are held named Base 9. The planet's inhabitants look like Shrek. There's also some nods to Star Wars and Terminator.
The lack of originality is evident in every moment of the film. Again, the story is a rehash of E.T., a fact the film acknowledges with a "bike flying past the moon" shot. But that wink and a nod at the filmmakers' own lack of imagination is neither charming nor clever; it's just lazy and boring. Every filmmaker "borrows" or pays homage to other films sometimes, but Planet 51 is a factory-made, paint-by-numbers piece of hackwork. It's not just formulaic; it's a valentine to formula. In other words, watching and imitating Pixar movies doesn't mean that you can make one that's as good.
The characters are all types we've seen before. Chuck Baker is basically a human version of exuberant spaceman Buzz Lightyear, while Lem is every young protagonist on a journey to prove his worth to others... blah, blah, blah. There's nothing especially funny or charming about Lem; Flint Lockwood in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs or Cody Maverick in Surf's Up (both films are, like Planet 51, Sony releases) had similar goals, but they were amusing and endearing. Biel's Neera is as forgettable as many of her live-action roles, while Seann William Scott voices a slightly less stupid version of the comic relief sidekick seen in Shrek or Surf's Up.
There are a few cute moments with Rover or the Alien dog, and one funny but obvious antenna joke, but other than that there's precious little to recommend this film, even for kids. If you were thinking of taking your kids to go see this, you'd be doing them (and your wallet) a favor if you just showed them some of the great movies that Planet 51 ripped off instead. God knows, there's enough of them to pick from.
1.5 out of 5 Stars, 3/10 Score
