Bubblegum For Stoners, A Science Fiction Comedy: Dude, Where’s My Car?

The Good: It's ALWAYS nice to see Jennifer Garner and Marla Sokoloff, Convincing acting
The Bad: This is a largely dumb movie
The Basics: With mild entertainment value, Dude, Where’s My Car? is a science fiction comedy that is largely a witless trek around to find a lost car while two stoners are hunted by smarter people and aliens.


For years there was someone in my life trying to convince me that the seminal American movie was Dude Where’s My Car? so last night, I finally broke down and watched it. I now have one less holiday card to send out. Even recognizing Dude Where’s My Car? as a stupid, teen-oriented stoner flick, this movie manages to be lousy.

Best friends Jesse and Chester wake up from a night of being stoned and/or heavy drinking on their anniversary to their girlfriends (who are twins) to discover they have lost the previous night and Jesse's car. As they search for their car to get to their girlfriends, they find themselves hunted by a transsexual, a cadre of "hot chicks," two muscly men and a cult focused on entering outer space. As Jesse and Chester are manipulated for the whereabouts of a device they supposedly possess, they reconstruct the outrageous night they had the night before.

First, what works. At the end of the day, Dude Where’s My Car? is a science fiction comedy. In my book, there are too few of those. Dude Where’s My Car? is, in part, a dimwitted science fiction comedy about two people who stumble upon a device that could destroy the universe and the forces that hunt them to insure that will not happen. As a drama, this is a compelling plot. As a comedy, it has the elements to be very funny.

The problem is in the execution. What might have been an excellent situation for a farce or satire or even a referential comedy quickly becomes a stoner movie. Lacking any of the intelligence in dialogue of a Kevin Smith movie - the average joke in Dude Where’s My Car? involves repetition - this simply becomes a stoner comedy about two slackers who try to be funny.

The other thing that works, though, in this movie, is the acting. Yup, the acting. Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott are utterly convincing as stoners who are clueless and out of control. Kutcher has the ability to make his face go slack with stupidity that no other young actor can master. Seann William Scott plays an adequate sidekick who seems just functional enough to perform his plot-dictated roles.

Sadly, this is a waste of the talents of Jennifer Garner and Marla Sokoloff, who are usually worth the price of admission for me. Garner and Sokoloff play the twins Wanda and Wilma and the final joke of the movie is insulting to these two professionals and the viewers alike. Strangely, two of the better names who appear in the movie are not even credited. Brent Spiner ("Data" on Star Trek The Next Generation) and Andy Dick appear midway through the movie for a scene.

There's not much to say about this movie. Minutes are spent with Jesse fighting with a speakerbox while ordering Chinese food. Similarly, a portion of time is spent with Jesse and Chester reading each other's tattooed backs and mistaking "Dude" and "Sweet" for terms of affection as opposed to what the tattoos say. And there's a requisite number of oral sex jokes and jokes based on secondary sex characteristics that could only be found amusing by high school dropouts and preteens.

What sinks Dude Where’s My Car? ultimately is that it's not funny. I was amused by the movie, but there was little to actually laugh at. I did find the movie refreshingly direct; the characters are witlessly looking for their car. If you want a movie smarter than that, this is certainly telling the viewer off the bat, it is not it.

For other science fiction comedies, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Men In Black 3
The Back To The Future Trilogy
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

5/10

For other movie reviews, check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the films I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

The Joke Is On The Audience . . . But We Wanted It! Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back

The Good: Funny, Allusions, Character progression
The Bad: Predictable, So much was cut!
The Basics: Funny and enjoyable for movie buffs and people who enjoy Kevin Smith's movies, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back ages well.


Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is one of those films that people tend to take or leave and they take it if they enjoy Kevin Smith's prior works (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma) and leave if they haven't seen or didn't enjoy Smith's previous works, this one is certainly not going to get people to watch his films. The 2-DVD set is pretty much the best argument ever for DVD short of The Criterion Collection DVD set of Brazil. The magic of the DVD is that there's a whole second film of Kevin Smith et al. introducing cut scenes from Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is a hard sell, so I won't try to sell it to those of you who haven't seen Kevin Smith's prior works. If you haven't seen Clerks, Chasing Amy, or Dogma, go see at least one of them and then come back to this. This film is appreciable if you know the players involved.

Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back follows the exploits of Jay and Silent Bob from New Jersey through Hollywood. The plot is simple; the pair has a comic book based upon them and when they learn there is a film being made of their characters, they discover the internet and criticism there. So, the pair heads to Hollywood under the logic that if the movie isn't made, no one can badmouth them. It's solid logic from stoners. Once you accept that, you're fine. The rest of the film is the caper of Jay and Silent Bob falling in with a group of diamond thieves, losing them, and getting to Hollywood.

Criticizing Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is as stupid as those two yo-yos that went and sued the makers of Duce Bigalow, Male Gigolo (or was it The Animal?) because there was a faux reviewer who recommended the film. If you go to see a Rob Schneider flick, you're not expecting high brow or, if you are, you're an idiot. Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is a stupid film making fun of stupid films being made. It's stupid, but it doesn't have the pretense of being anything more. So, why should the audience?

My theory is, we shouldn't. Accept the premise and you'll enjoy it. The film makes hilarious pokes as sequels and how lame they usually are, they mock themselves and other works expertly.

The real gem of the DVD is watching the film and then going through the bonus disk for all of the additional stuff that is packed on there. The whole commentary on the cuts scenes was easily more funny than the actual film and worth the price of the DVD alone. The different clips are great.

Here Kevin Smith makes a satire of the people he has worked with and it's amusing to see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon make fun of themselves while also playing other characters they have played in Smith's earlier films.

One of the surprises here is the quality of the acting. Ben Affleck convincingly plays Holden from Chasing Amy in a cameo early in the film as well as creating a very different character in the parody of himself. Similarly, Jason Lee's presence in the film as both Banky Edwards and Brody is strangely unconfusing; his physical appearance is not significantly altered between the two roles, but he actively portrays them as different people and he successfully sells them.

While many would applaud Will Farrell as Marshal Willenholly, I think he's simply being Farrell as a Federal Wildlife Marshal and if you've seen Farrell in a few roles, you've seen his range. He does nothing extraordinary here. However, Shannon Elizabeth is great as Jay's love interest, Justice. She is more than simply a pretty face and a body here; she's actualized enough to keep our interest for the film.

The acting talent that dominates Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back is Jason Mewes. Most of the airtime is his and here he recreates the quirky, angry, foul-mouthed drug dealer we've known from the other films.

This is not a film for the young. It's hilarious, but it uses a lot of harsh language and foul sexual references. It's not a terribly intellectual film, but it is one that those who despise pop culture will appreciate a lot: many recognizable faces from today's popular culture appear to do parodies of their more serious work.

If you want a treat and you've enjoyed Kevin Smith's other works, there's no better way to cap off the adventures of Jay and Silent Bob than this. And as a hint, stay through the end of the credits. :)

For other movies by Kevin Smith, please visit my reviews of:
Clerks
Chasing Amy
Dogma
Clerks II
Cop Out
Red State

6.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2003 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Cop Out: Kevin Smith's Directoral Strike-Out.

The Good: Moments of chemistry and dialogue
The Bad: Predictable, Juvenile humor, Mediocre acting, Bland directing, No real character development.
The Basics: A disappointing violent comedy, Cop Out falls flat, especially for a film Kevin Smith is involved with.


There are very few directors whose works I actually get excited about going out to see. Come to think of it, I've missed the last three Terry Gilliam films while they were in theaters as well as P.T. Anderson's last work (which, fortunately, will not be his last!). In fact, since I became a fan of Kevin Smith’s works, I think his cinematic outings are the only ones I've managed to hit consistently in the theaters, including Zack And Miri Make A Porno. So, despite the fact that Cop Out was directed, but not written by, Kevin Smith, I still was thrilled to be able to get into an advanced screening of the movie. Unfortunately for Kevin Smith fans, this is not his best work and not even a passably good effort. Ironically, part of this is because the film is very muted in its cinematic presentation for an action-comedy. This is ironic because the “look” of the film does not carry the energy of most action or comedy films, yet Smith is still using David Klein, his long-time Director Of Photography. I write “ironically” also because Cop Out actually has a budget, which means Smith wasn't scraping quarters out of the couch to pay for every shot.

Unfortunately, Cop Out reminds those who have not seen Rush Hour of the previews of Rush Hour as a mismatch cop comedy that seems to hinge on an “Odd Couple” type relationship. Kevin Smith excels at comedies about just such characters, but that is often because they develop, they have endearing qualities, they grow - or, through their stagnation, the audience becomes sympathetic or empathetic to their condition. This, however, is not the case with Cop Out. Instead, this seems like just another Hollywood comedy, the type Smith has been known to satirize in many of his other works.

Jimmy Monroe loathes his ex-wife's new husband, Roy, who is rich and has no problem throwing that in the cop's face. So, when Jimmy's daughter, Ava, announces her engagement, Jimmy sees the chance to upstage Roy and pay for the wedding, by selling off an extremely rare baseball card he has. But, before he can sell the card, it is stolen from him and he, reluctantly, has to get help in getting it back. That help takes the form of Paul, his wisecracking partner who lacks a sense of professionalism that Jimmy tries to bring to the job.

In hunting down the baseball card, Jimmy and Paul rescue Gabriela from the Mexican mob and find themselves in the crosshairs of various trigger-happy mobsters.

First off, people after the screening I attended seemed to be impressed that Bruce Willis was funny and he was, in a dry way (costar Tracy Morgan goes for more of the laughs with physical humor and over-the-top antics, while Willis plays off that as a frequent straightman). The thing is, anyone who has seen Moonlighting or the sixth season of Friends (reviewed here!) when Willis had a recurring guest star role know that Willis has the capacity to be funny. Laugh-out-loud funny. And, in Cop Out, he is. He has some of the better lines and his more subtle delivery works well for him and for the film.

Second, Tracy Morgan is funny, but in a far less enduring way. In fact, Morgan's Paul becomes quickly droll. The spasmodic, over-the-top deliveries of Morgan quickly leave one feeling like they are watching a 1930s cinematic representation of the antics of black folks. In other words, Paul doesn't seem like a viable or vital character, he seems like the parody of the minstrel show character, bugging out his eyes, failing wildly and making educated people of any color squirm. Morgan's character of Paul is not bad for who he is, but he is uncomfortable for what he represents. Sadly, Cop Out seems to utilize an awful lot of negative ethnic stereotypes to create the characters and the lack of subtlety and emotion control in Paul represents some of the more negative stereotypes.

Conversely, Morgan does a surprisingly good job with the dramatic moments he is given. While his hammy moments are cringeworthy, his action moments are surprisingly good. Morgan carries himself in those scenes with a body language that makes him a plausible action hero and they work. In fact, Morgan seems to have all the characteristics in the action scenes to play a hero or a truly menacing villain. More often than not, though, he is used to deliver ridiculous lines in Cop Out and he soon becomes boring to watch.

This brings us to Robb and Mark Cullen, the writers of Cop Out. One can see in their references to other movies and works a clear appreciation of pop culture. One realizes almost as quickly, though, that the brothers Cullen do not have anything definitive to add to pop culture, the comedy or cop movie genres. In fact, after hearing catchphrases from a dozen movies, Cop Out seems to want to emphasize that it has nothing so memorable. Indeed, the most disappointing aspect of the writing is that the best lines are in the trailers, most of them are unintelligible and those moments in the film are entirely juvenile.

Moreover, the point of Cop Out is not to tell an engaging story; Jimmy's motivation is originally aggrivatingly churlish. One-upping Roy brings out the worst in Jimmy and his search for "justice" becomes more of a way for him to express his frustration violently than do anything remotely redeeming. The Mexican gangsters add a whole new level of violence to the movie and the film ekes closer to the uncomfortable line crossed in recent years by movies like Observe And Report and Pineapple Express (reviewed here!). That line, where violence is used to make jokes and garner laughs - but when crossed becomes disturbing - is approached, but not run over in Cop Out. Though, there is a disturbing "calling card" from the villain of the film, Smith and the Cullens manage not to make it overly gross.

Like most Kevin Smith movies - whether or not he wrote this one - Cop Out contains adult (meaning foul) language at frequent intervals, as well as several mentions of explicit activities. But more often than not, the movie sounds like a junior high locker room interpretation of what sex must be and the whole thing seems largely childish.

And, unfortunately, that saps the enduring interest for the adult audience. Ultimately, Cop Out is not as funny as it could be and is problematic in the way its ridiculousness is more childish than actually funny.

For other movies by Kevin Smith, please visit my reviews of:
Clerks
Chasing Amy
Dogma

3.5/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

The Ultimate Teen-Appeal Film: Evolution Stinks.

The Good: The occasional joke, Production design
The Bad: Acting, Utter lack of real characters or development, Predictable plot
The Basics: Utterly unfunny and filled with preposterously lit special effects, Evolution fails to entertain or amuse, even when you're not expecting much.


When I sat down to Evolution, I had pretty low expectations. I had seen the previews when it was originally out in the theaters and I had considered going, but never got around to it. Someone I respect very much had seen the movie and not enjoyed it. She compared it to Men In Black (reviewed here!) which I did not like.

Evolution is pretty much the ultimate made for teens film. It is populated by recognizable celebrities (David Duchovny and Orlando Jones), a teen magazine heartthrob (Seann William Scott) and a clear skinned, beautiful woman (Julianne Moore). It has current music as well as a disco sing along in a fast car. It has jokes that turn on flatulence and anatomy (which can be fine, see Kevin Smith films like Dogma (reviewed here!) or Chasing Amy for intelligent "dick and fart joke" films). It has a lot of action, special effects and is low on plot or character intelligence.

The film follows two college professors, Ira Kane and Harry Block as they investigate a recent meteor crash. They take samples and discover that there is primitive life growing on the surface of the space rock and they begin to study the strange life forms. For reasons unknown to them at that time, there were microscopic life forms on and in the meteor and they are developing at an incredible rate from single celled life into vastly more complicated life forms. Kane and Block are accompanied early on by Wayne, a wannabe fireman who was at the site of the meteor when it impacted. When the military blocks Kane and Block's access to the meteor, they meet Allison, who is the obvious attempt for a romantic subplot in the film. The aliens continue to develop and multiply at an alarming rate and it appears they will take over Arizona and the state in only a few days!

Well, I have to say the first problem with Evolution is that it's not funny. I laughed twice and today I was in the mood for a dumb comedy.

David Duchovny reinforced the thesis that he either isn't given diverse roles or he simply can't act by playing Ira Kane very similar to how he presented Fox Mulder for so many years. Orlando Jones - through performance or the character as it was written - comes off like a cheap Chris Rock knock off, which was especially disappointing as Jones has a phenomenal range of personas, as evidenced from his years on MadTV. Julianne Moore illustrates her range by coming off nothing at all like her characters in Magnolia (reviewed here!) or Boogie Nights. Unfortunately, the role she's playing here is of a bungling moron and it's not a terribly good role.

Sadly, I can tell the film was trying to be something more. It wanted to be a comedy with complex characters and I can tell it wanted to be that by the fact that so many details of Ira Kane's backstory are thrown in. There are so many attempts made to make it clear that Ira had a life before the film began, from his military employment to his ex-wife. In this instance, it seems like the writer's are trying too hard. They focus only on Ira's backstory and little to none of the other characters and it comes across as an overcompensation or an afterthought. The movie "reads" like one that was written as a completely dumb comedy and the writers went back to add details to make it come out more intelligently.

The plot is one that is so predictable and so canned that the only people who will be surprised by the events in it are preteens.

Sadly, Evolution is a huge disappointment, failing to please or even entertain. It's a disappointment to your expectations if you're expecting it to be a disappointment!

For other works featuring Ted Levine, be sure to visit my reviews of:
Shutter Island
Memoirs Of A Geisha
The Silence Of The Lambs


1/10

For other film reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject!

© 2011, 2002 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Weird, Dark And Complicated, Southland Tales Might Be The Best Political Film In Years.

The Good: Pleasantly weird, An amazing cast, Surprisingly good acting
The Bad: Light on bonus features/No director's cut
The Basics: Delightfully confusing, but with the realistic complications of a vast network of individuals acting on their own motivations, Southland Tales mystifies its way to success.


When it comes to watching new films, there are very few films I want to see without knowing something about them on one level or another. Life is too short to waste my time with lousy movies (though, strangely, when it comes to new films, I seem to be willing to sit through anything I can screen for free), so I usually like going into movies knowing something about them. The exception to that is when there is a director I trust. If a film is good enough, it "buys" my immediate interest in the writer/director's next film. So, for example, P.T. Anderson and Terry Gilliam get my money consistently because they have both made films which are perfect. So, when I saw and enjoyed Donnie Darko (reviewed here!), writer and director Richard Kelly instantly earned my attention for his film Southland Tales.

Truth be told, getting Southland Tales out from my local library was not a random thing. I wanted to see Southland Tales, because I had followed the tumultuous history of its production. The SciFi Wire reported extensively on the problems Richard Kelly was having in getting the film released and I was completely fascinated about it. Unfortunately, the SciFi Wire upgraded to a more flashy, Flash-based system that takes forever to load on my computer (or crashes it altogether), so I never learned how the problems were resolved and that the film hit theaters. As a result, I was pleased to get this in and watch it.

Southland Tales, which had a plot that I knew nothing about in advance, is just what I would have expected by the writer and director of Donnie Darko. Richard Kelly both wrote and directed Southland Tales and it is stylish, weird and smart. It is like a postapocalyptic story that mixes Dark City (reviewed here!) and Mulholland Drive. Usually, if I figure out what other movies a film is like, I tend not to enjoy it, but Southland Tales got me into it right away.

Following a nuclear attack in Texas in 2005, the United States goes to war throughout the Middle East and Asia. As the wars rage on, the oil supply is so compromised that alternative fuel research becomes a real, vital and immediate need. The United States fractures over opposing viewpoints and the 2008 election hinges entirely on California's electoral college votes. In order to influence the 2008 election, a network of seemingly unrelated people attempt to affect vice presidential candidate Senator Bobby Frost.

This takes the form of Frost's son-in-law, actor Boxer Santaros waking up with amnesia and taking up with porn star Krysta Now, who is trying to sell a reality show. Boxer is manipulated through an encounter which puts him at an apparent crime scene where a racist cop shoots two people and he suffers a psychotic break. But the wrong cop is actually the twin brother of a man close to the conspirators. As he and Boxer each try to figure out what the agenda is of the neo-Marxists, the creator of an energy source called Fluid Karma and a pilot who has gone missing (and probably crazy) they both find themselves running for their lives or beaten on by friends and enemies alike.

Sound weird? It is. Does the plot summary read as confusing enough that you're still not really sure what the movie is about? Well, then, you're on the same page as virtually everyone else who has seen the movie. Southland Tales is a trippy film (the story takes an abrupt stop to have Private Pilot Abilene, the missing pilot) experience a drug trip music video which arguably has nothing to do with the rest of the film. This is a movie that puts style in front of comprehension and it does that magnificently, though it is presented with voiceovers which explain a lot of the most basic plot points. The only real issue viewers are likely to have is with figuring out how what they are told relates to what they are seeing on screen at any given moment.

Fortunately, there are answers, but the viewer must be patient for them and they have to put up with a lot of technobabble to get there. The film is deeply concerned with politics in one scene - not just American electoral politics, but radical feminism and antiwar messages - and alternate realities in another. Throughout the film, the government is painted as a nefarious spying organization which has taken over the Internet as best it can. And with the mix of advertising saturation, violent crime and the creation of a feasible pop culture in this altered United States, this all seems real . . . when it is not being completely surreal.

Part of what makes it work is the amazing cast. In addition to great character actors like Wallace Shawn and Miranda Richardson and dignified mainstays like John Larroquette and Seann William Scott (who is plausibly dark and humorless in his part), the cast is driven by unlikely cast members who give great performances. Bai Ling has a weird, minor role which she carries wonderfully and Mandy Moore's few scenes have her portraying a character who seems about as confused as the audience. Even Sarah Michelle Gellar gives a decent performance, though she is playing a somewhat over-the-top ridiculous porn star.

The true acting surprise comes from none other than Dwayne Johnson. Johnson plays Boxer and he has an unlikely sensibility to his performance in this. Instead of playing the heavy, he plays a realistically confused man, damaged by the machinations he is a pawn in. What makes his performance so good is his body language. When menaced, Boxer has a nervous tick and it is weird, consistent and well-conceived.

On DVD, there is only a featurette on the government spy network and an animated short. They are cool, but viewers who either enjoy or don't understand the film are likely to want quite a bit more.

Amid spiritualism, alternate energy sources, drug use and government spying, there is a story in Southland Tales. But to understand it all is likely to take multiple viewings and the film does not fall into any easy niches. As a result, it becomes difficult to discuss. Those who like science fiction with political depth and movies that are surreal, like those of David Lynch, are likely to love this film. I'm one who likes dramas to have a story and character development, but when there's enough to come back to because I didn't understand all the layers, that's a rare thing. Southland Tales is one such film and I'm looking forward to my next viewings, though honestly, I am hoping there comes a time when a director's cut with Kelly's true, original vision, becomes available. I'm betting it wouldn't have the explanations and lacking the voiceovers, it's quite possible the movie becomes even more ambiguous. I could live with that.

For other trippy films, please check out my reviews of:
Inception
Sucker Punch
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

8/10

For other movie reviews, be sure to check out my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

Talk About Your Disappointments: Planet 51 Is An Entirely Banal Science Fiction Comedy!

The Good: Opens strong
The Bad: Continues weak and descends into an overall terrible film, Light on DVD bonus features.
The Basics: A ridiculous animated science fiction parody, Planet 51 becomes too formulaic and is not worth wasting time on.


I am a big fan of science fiction films and I have a love of science fiction comedy when it is done right. I was thrilled to meet the director of the retro science fiction comedy Alien Trespass when I managed to get to a screening of it last year and I had a real appreciation for much of what was done in the film. Similarly, when it comes to science fiction comedies I applaud both the execution and concept of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (click here for that review!). So, when I encounter a science fiction parody that does not live up, I definitely have the judgment to distinguish between the quality and the less-than quality. Sadly for writer Joe Stillman and the directors of Planet 51, Planet 51 is not a worthwhile film on any level.

My wife and I took in the DVD presentation of Planet 51 late last week when she had the opportunity to pick up a stack of movies from our local library. I did not object to her picking the movie out because I had missed Planet 51 when it was in theaters and the DVD represented the opportunity for my wife and I to spend time together. Sadly, neither of us enjoyed the movie despite it starting exceptionally well. But for those looking for an entertaining, funny or even clever animated film or science fiction parody, Planet 51 ultimately falls so far short as to be not worth recommending at all.

On a distant planet, Lem is an alien who has moved up to a management (albeit minor) position at the local observatory and he is keen to share his good fortune with Neera, a girl he is interested in. While Lem's best friend shouts about conspiracy theories involving extraterrestrials and works at a comic book store, Lem tries to impress Neera and falls somewhat short because of his chronic shyness. Unfortunately for Lem, his belief system is rocked when a NASA astronaut from Earth, Captain Charles Baker, arrives on his planet and stumbles into his front yard.

As Captain Baker blunders his way around the planet, causing the military's General Grawl to descend upon Lem's house and buy into the brain-crazed Professor Kipple's doctrines about the evils of extraterrestrial, Lem tries to save Baker. Learning from Baker how to be suave with the ladies, Lem and his best friend (who has befriended Baker's remote drone) try to win the heart of Neera and get Baker back to his ship before it launches and strands him there for good.

Planet 51 opens as a surprisingly smart parody of serialized science fiction films with a 1950s flavor to the camp quality. The feature is animated, so the effects do not attempt to mimic 1950s special effects, but the idea that extraterrestrial are arriving and turning the citizens of the planet into mindless zombies has 50s kitsch quality written all over it. And Planet 51 is a pretty formulaic science fiction piece up to and including the love interest for Lem and the multiple plotlines, like the rover getting into trouble while searching for rocks and the mad scientist Professor Kipple. There are chases and reversals and the artificial timetable, in this case the automatic return that Baker's ship is on to return back to the mothership.

The result could have been smart and fun. Unfortunately, after the first fifteen minutes, my partner and I stopped laughing and we didn't restart. The movie degenerates into ridiculous slapstick painted in bright colors which is no doubt entertaining to the children, but lacks the substance for adults and serious science fiction fans. After all, the initial cleverness of an alien (from Alien) appearing as a housepet on this distant world is quickly undermined by how it is used to make simple urination jokes. The twist will go over children's heads and anyone smart enough to love Alien is likely to be disappointed by the simplicity of the twist in this comedy.

Ultimately, Planet 51 becomes a silly animated romantic comedy that is short on the laughs. Captain Baker is ridiculous and while Lem is initially likable, it is hard to stick with him and care about his fate because so much of the movie is formulaic and droll. Neera doesn't have particularly much character as she drops Lem and his attentions for the ridiculous hippie that interjects himself without actually having much in common with her. As well, General Grawl and Professor Kipple are more archetypes than actual characters.

What Planet 51 does have is fairly decent voice actors. Justin Long does quite well as Lem, even if he does not have a wealth of great lines to deliver. Long is expressive and overcomes some of the simplicities of the emotional range he has been given in other projects. Similarly, Jessica Biel seems to be having fun providing the vocals for Neera. But Dwayne Johnson fails to voice Baker in a way that truly sparkles. The result is a character who talks the lady-killer lines, but does not make them sound like they truly fit him.

On DVD, there are featurettes on the making of the movie, deleted scenes and a commentary track, but we were so disappointed by the source material that we could not sit through the supplemental stuff.

Ultimately, Planet 51's laughs come in the first fifteen minutes and everything after that is a sad filler which wastes the viewer's time and attention.

For other animated films, please check out my reviews of:
Toy Story 3
Despicable Me
Igor

2/10

For other film reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.


| | |