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:

Jessica Biel, John Cleese, Dwayne Johnson

2 wins & 2 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 | spaceship | alien planet | 

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Taglines:

Right stuff. Wrong planet.

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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 (USA)

Also Known As:

Planeta 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

Production lasted 16 months, roughly half the amount of time it takes to make a Pixar movie.

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Goofs

Skiff's braces disappear and reappear in different scenes.

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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 Back to the Future (1985)

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Soundtracks

"Tried to Save the World"
Written by Tom Cawte
Performed by Tom Cawte and The Electric Hearts
Produced by Graham Walker
© 2008 Handmade Films Music Ltd

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.