It wasn't half as bad as I expected. Planet 51 is directed mainly at children, and the humor is appropriately simplistic, which makes the infinite number of cultural references, of a type that was archaic when Pleasantville used them ten years ago, rather odd, because it seems unlikely that any child would get them, but there are enough laughs to make it enjoyable, even if the admittedly appealing premise runs out of gas after about fifteen minutes. If the movie tried to make a serious point about what makes someone 'alien' or about xenophobia and fear of the unknown, then it failed miserably. But as a piece of straight entertainment for the family, it's a fairly enjoyable (thoug forgettable) piece of film.
Review of Planet 51
