Planet 51 (2009)

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!

Directors:

Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad,

Writers:

Javier Abad (original idea by), Jorge Blanco (original idea by),

Stars:

Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jessica Biel	...	Neera (voice)
John Cleese	...	Professor Kipple (voice)
Gary Oldman	...	General Grawl (voice)
Dwayne Johnson	...	Captain Charles T. Baker (voice)
Justin Long	...	Lem (voice)
Seann William Scott	...	Skiff (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)

Storyline

Lem is just an average teenager working on getting the girl and furthering his career at the local planetarium - except that he's an alien. At least to U.S. astronaut Captain Charles T. Baker who lands on Lem's planet hoping for a quick flag plant and a hasty return to earth and his millions of screaming fans. But on this alien planet the media has tagged spacemen as brain-eating, zombie-creating monsters, causing Baker to run for his life and into Lem's house. Now it's up to the green native to get the clumsy astronaut back to his spaceship before military dictator General Grawl and mad scientist Professor Kipple manage to exterminate the Earthly visitor.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | astronaut | alien | alien planet | teenager | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Portugal] Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

Spain UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 November 2009 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Planète 51

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,513,003 (UK) (4 December 2009)

Gross:

$42,194,060 (USA) (5 March 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ilion Animation, HandMade Films, Antena 3 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Planet 51 finished production by June 2009. In November 2007, New Line Cinema had picked up the United States distribution rights; the studio itself was to release the film in the summer of 2009. However, TriStar Pictures became the film's home after New Line Cinema sold the rights to them through Sony. According to the Variety magazine, "Warner decided to let the picture go after the producers insisted on a November release, when Warner is releasing its sixth Harry Potter film." The new distributor moved the U.S release date from the summer of 2009 to November of that year.

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Goofs

As astronaut Chuck Baker gets tangled up in a planet mobile in the planetarium, his air hose becomes dislodged and his oxygen becomes depleted. Upon realizing the planet has breathable air, he removes his helmet, and the air hose is now reconnected to his suit. It is then again disconnected in the following shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
girl: I've never gone parking before. I'm really not that kind of a girl.
boy: Well, I'm not the kind of a guy who would go with *that* kind of girl.
girl: Why that's so sweet - I think.
boy: There's nothing to be scared of.
[as alien craft rears up in front of them]

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Crazy Credits

There is an additional scene halfway through the end credits.

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Connections

References Star Trek (1966)

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Soundtracks

Lollipop
(Vocal and Instrumental versions)
Written by Julius Dixon and Beverly Ross
© 1958 by Edward B Marks Music Corporation
Used by Permission of Moncur Street Music Ltd On behalf of Anglo Pic Music Company Ltd
Lead Vocal Sophie Green
Backing Vocals Tamsin Hardy and Cat Scandrett
Arranged by Chris Cawte
Produced by Graham Walker

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: Planet 51

I have to admit the trailer was funny enough, with an astronaut so full of himself thinking that his planetary visit was an open and shut case, only to discover that it's inhabited and he's the alien in the truest sense of the word, like a fish out of water trying to make his way home lest he becomes an experimental subject.

And the aliens, well, are just like us, with plot conveniences such as having the same mixture of atmospheric gases like Earth's, and hey, the green things with four fingers on each hand speak English too! They're city folks with a penchant for 50s musical oldies (that pepper the soundtrack), with a whole host of modern day, earth-like references all over the place in a desperate attempt at being recognized for being smarty-pants. Unfortunately though it tries too hard to be funny at every turn, and it only brought about the occasional mirth.

It's about time that filmmakers realize that pumping a film with too many references for its own good, is something of a tired formula. You'd wonder when such references will seize, to allow a good story to shine. Planet 51 suffers from too much wink-wink moments, complete with blatant rip offs that bring too much attention to themselves. One look at the pet named Ripley and resembling like a Xeroxed replica of an Alien complete with acidic pee, you're likely to roll your eyes. Or how about that robot probe that functions and looks like R2D2/WallE and comes without dialogues but plenty of whirrs and beeps while going about doing cutesy stuff?

Despite a relatively A-list voice cast with the likes of Dwayne Johnson (who doesn't sound like the real deal if you ask me), Justin Long, Gary Oldman, John Cleese, Jessica Biel and Seann William Scott, Planet 51 felt like a Frankenstein monster, stitched together from ideas of other films, and plastered together forcefully to try and make the narrative work. Characters too are a little boring and one-dimensional, with little heart.

Bottom line is, CG graphics and copycat characters don't make an animated film entertaining. A sincere story does and this one is found lacking, and too talky too for kids to enjoy, in my opinion.