Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Although in no way really distinctive this picture ticks a number of boxes with its cultural references i.e. to the 1950s of the alien world that is Planet 51, some hearty turns by voices such as Cleese, and a sprinkling of barely veiled Adult humour that makes it a pleasant enough way to spend a couple of hours. The music is fun and the message positive if anodyne. For me it got a little noisy and too busy with the escalating action sequences but it has character enough to be recommended to a general family audience in and out of a post-prandial snooze on Boxing Day for instance.

What I really like about this movie is the setting. A planet so very similar to ours in the 50's, but inhabited by smaller green guys with antennae, similar to how we imagine aliens. Then an alien invasion actually happens, when a human astronaut lands on their soil.The movie mocks our fear of the unknown and does good job with that, even though some of the situations are a bit too far to the absurd side. The movie likes to use some stereotypes, mostly for the good. At least you can identify stuff easily without having to decipher it and if you watch it with children, they might understand most of it, too.Of course, something is totally unrealistic or oversimplified, but it's a comedy, no need to take it too seriously. You wouldn't make a realistic movie about it anyway, as sentient extraterrestrial life might be very different from ours anyway, even if it shared our fears.

Planet 51 (2009): Dir: Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad / Voices: Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott: Family animation about places and the beings living there. Astronaut Charles lands on a strange planet populated by green people. Among them is Lem who befriends him and struggles to hide him from authorities who seized his spacecraft. Directed by Jorge Blanco and Javier Abad who have fun with placing the shoe on the other foot in terms of who is on what turf. While the narrative is certainly bland at best it is equipped with a colorful animated world. Dwayne Johnson voices Chuck who gradually adapts in communicating. He is now the one being observed as oppose to the one observing. Justin Long voices the ambitious Lem who decides to assist him in reaching his ship. We know how this turns out and the supporting characters are an even bigger torn in the side. Jessica Biel voices the bland love interest Neera and that pretty much sums her up. Gary Oldman plays the stereotypical General Grawl who is out to expose and exterminate Chuck. Seann William Scott voices Lem's best friend who works at a comic book store. The role is as straight forward as it sounds. The screenplay will hardly appeal to adults but children may find its simplicity amusing. Interesting concept places humans as the observed and misunderstood. Score: 6 / 10

I don't often sell movies. If I pick up a movie whose premise looks engaging, usually it ends up being good enough to watch again, and I keep it. This one is an exception.I watched it because the premise -- a human finding himself playing the role of alien on another planet -- was intriguing. Unfortunately, the movie spends more time fooling around with slapstick and young love clichés than actually exploring that premise. The humor is silly/ridiculous as opposed to genuinely funny. The story feels shallow, and the emotional heart it could have had barely comes out. I really *wanted* to connect with some of the characters, especially Lem ... how could I not love a science-crazy teenager?! But it turned out to be difficult to care about them. I don't necessarily mind all of the cheeky references to other sci-fi films, but you've got to have more than that to build a movie on.Maybe I was setting my standards a little high by hoping that this would be another E.T., or a kid-friendly version of The Day the Earth Stood Still, with the human and alien roles flipped. But I've seen enough kids' movies that I would honor with an unqualified GREAT assessment that I don't think this one deserves a pass. Treat your kids to something that doesn't insult their taste.