Planet 51 Movie Review

The inhabitants of Planet 51 enjoyed a quiet existence until the terrifying arrival of a dim-witted earthling. Check out Kidzworld’s review of Planet 51.

Planet 51 is inhabited by peaceful, Shrek-like creatures whose society looks a lot like 1950’s suburbia on Earth. Unfortunately, the quiet lives of the Planet 51-ians are soon interrupted by the arrival of a boorish astronaut from Earth named Captain Charles T. Baker (voiced by Dwayne Johnson).

Space Case

Baker had expected to land on an uninhabited planet, but when he encounters the green-skinned locals who’re used to watching movies that feature humans as invading monsters, he has to wrap his head around the fact that he is the alien on this planet. Planet 51 throws in lots of references to past sci-fi movies. There’s a little dog that’s a dead ringer for the creature from Alien and Rover, the puppy-like land rover that provides some comic relief, looks a lot like WALL-E.

Planetary Plight

Baker faces a lot of challenges on Planet 51. Not only does he have to convince the locals that he’s not a threat, but he must contend with General Grawl (voiced by Gary Newman), Professor Kipple (voiced by John Cleese) and an entire army that wants to capture him to experiment on his brain. Lucky for Baker, he meets Lem (voiced by Justin “the Mac guy” Long), a geeky green guy who’s too taken with his pretty neighbor Neera (Jessica Biel) to care whether or not humans are invading his planet.

The Bottom Line

Planet 51 was made by the same people that brought us Shrek, and the visuals and voice talent stack up nicely against the celebrated ogre. Although the story isn’t anything you haven’t seen before, with its references to everything from Alien to WALL-E, Planet 51 is a fun romp through sci-fi history.

Planet 51 Movie Rating:

Related Stories: