HTF BLU RAY REVIEW: Planet 51 (1 Viewer)

[Ed Faver]

[COLOR= rgb(51, 102, 255)]
[/COLOR][COLOR= rgb(0, 0, 255)]PLANET 51 (BLU RAY)[/COLOR]

Release date: March 9, 2010
Studio: TriStar Pictures
Rating: PG
Aspect: 2.35:1
Run TIme: 91 minutes
Languages: English, German 5.1 DTS-HD MA
English Audio Description Track, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, German, Turkish
MSRP: $39.95

THE FEATURE

Planet 51 is a computer-animated feature from Ilion Animation Studios, a company based in Spain, about an American astronaut who lands on a world of little green people who, essentially, live in small town USA as depicted in late 50s TV. They go to horror films about 'humanoids' who take over their brains and bodies and have neighborhood barbecues where shy, smart boys, like our hero, Lem (voiced by Justin Long) are admired from afar by pretty, popular girls, like Neera (voiced by Jessica Biel). Everybody drives big cars with fins and wood-paneled sides, except for the somewhat anachronistic 'long-hair' who rides around in a VW-like bus with flowers painted on it. They live in ignorant bliss. Their world is the center of the universe...until Chuck the Astronaut's ship lands in the middle of our hero's back yard and everybody freaks out. The military--and their scientists--take over and Chuck quickly becomes a fugitive.

Lem and his 'wacky' buddy, Skiff (Seann William Scott) become responsible for hiding Chuck (Dwayne Johnson) from the army and a scientist (John Cleese) who wants to dissect his brain. They have to get Chuck back to his ship, which is surrounded by soldiers, so he can get back to the star ship scheduled to return to Earth in little more than a day.

That's basically the story. I have no idea why Planet 51 is rated PG other than to fool anyone over the age of 5 into thinking it might interest them. The story is derivative of any number of SF movies and the jokes are just terrible. Skiff becomes infatuated with a canine-like probe that precedes Chuck to Planet 51 and eye-rolling silliness ensues. Early in the picture, the probe is featured on its own in scenes that are shameless ripoffs of WALL-E. While the planet's culture screams mid-1950s, the cars all float on air like something out of The Jetsons. They look cool, but the inconsistency sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb.

Among the actors, only Justin Long distinguishes himself. WIthout his toothy grin and arched eyebrow to fall back on, Dwayne Johnson is just a personality-free voice. The same can be said for Jessica Biel and Seann William Scott. John Cleese just sounds bored. The only genuine wit comes from the side antics of a domesticated animal that is a miniature version of Alien, complete with a natural acid fluid. Of course, this is produced when little Alien-Fido lifts a leg!

One of the few pleasure to be derived from Planet 51, for the post-kindergarten set, is from the design of the world. The design team has come up with an appropriately clean and bright palette and a busy, 'lived-in' environment. The script...well, the less said, the better. The marketplace is littered with CG films like Planet 51. A high-concept storyline gets greenlit and ends up having nowhere interesting to go.

RATING: 1.5/5

VIDEO

Planet 51's colors pop. The images are crisp and the world has depth. There's always plenty going on all over the frame without the eye getting distracted. And yet...well, it was TOO clean. After finishing the special features, I switched back to an HD channel on my 57-inch Mits and, lo and behold, a commercial was running for How to Train Your Dragon. The difference was startling. Dragon had REAL depth and sharper color contrast. Obviously, Dragon is a bigger-budget, major release, but zowie!, what a difference.

RATING: 3/5

AUDIO

No complaints here. The DTS-HD screams and whispers from all channels. Planet 51's very best feature (for grown-ups) is its song score of early rock and roll covers. The film's sound effects are often layered over songs and the separation is satisfying and impressive. The effects tracks ranges from whispers to sonic booms and all are beautifully handled.

RATING: 5/5

EXTRAS

The 'special features' are only marginally special. Two features that focus on the actors and production team: Planetarium: The Voice Stars of Planet 51 and Life on Planet 51 actually repeat interview segments from the stars. 'Life' tells a bit about the creative team, but the fact that the feature is so weak makes these shorts less interesting.

The World of Planet 51 is a tour around the sets of the film as the theme song 'Stick It to the Man' plays...over and over...again. The most interested extra is a four-panel animation progression of selected scenes from storyboard to finished product.

There is a Planet 51 game that might interest kids who have the patience to figure out how to make the remote behave as a game controller, but held little interest for me. A token trio of additional scenes add little to the proceedings.

TriStar includes SEVERAL previews for other films that can be viewed from the menu and also run after the disc loads. This is more than a little annoying as there are many of them and it's a lot of fast-forwarding until the feature shows up. These previews (and more) are the primary contents of the BD-Live page for the film.

RATING: 2.5/5

SUMMARY

Planet 51 is best for the little ones on a rainy day. The story and voice acting generally lack personality and spark. It is pleasing to the eye and the ear, but comes up short when compared to what else is hitting the marketplace these days. TriStar gets a big pat on the back for making this a full package. You get the movie in Blu Ray, standard definition, and digital formats. It's the only way to go.

OVERALL RATING (not an average): 2/5