It's an "ET-in-reverse" story. An Earthling astronaut gets stuck on what he calls an alien planet. The local green folks call him (accurately) the alien. The story is a fond tribute to drive-in's, space-creatures sci-fi, and the 50's. With the Area 51 reference in its title, you know the film will be poking fun at everything it can get its hands on, including itself. It delivers this.

There's hover craft that look like big-finned autos of that era, black & white TV, and pioneer rock 'n' roll. It's clever humor, although some of this has been done before. There's a lot of parallels to Monsters vs. Aliens, too, in that frequent references to classic sci-fi flicks (up to the present, not just the 50's) pop up in sight gags and one-liner jokes. My fav was the character that resembled the Aliens movie creatures. There are other clichés sent up for satire: a loud mouth hawkish general, a wanna-be scientist, etc. Adults won't be bored thanks to these in-jokes, and the kids should like the slapstick stuff.

The film boasts a great idea, and some, but not all, of the potential is utilized. It's good natured and fun, rating about average for an animated feature.

I have always loved animation, whether it's cartoons(Looney Tunes and Silly Symphonies),films or TV shows. Planet 51 is not a bad movie, but at the end of the day it felt rather bland. I've seen worse certainly, but I can also think of better out there. The animation is wonderful though, very rich in colour and detail. The soundtrack is memorable, there are a few funny moments that will have children chuckling, fun set pieces and a couple of Cold War pastiches that will keep adults interested, Rover is a great character and by far the best character of the movie and it all begins very promisingly. The voice cast are full of great actors, especially Gary Oldman and John Cleese, and Planet 51 generally uses them well, Dwayne Johnson is an especially likable lead. However, the story, despite its great premise, is rather weak and unoriginal in structure and after a promising twenty minutes it is never quite as interesting. I liked the Cold War pastiches, but some of the other references were verging on tired. Among the funny moments, there is the overall mediocrity of the script, with a lot of clichéd dialogue. The characters are weak and stereotypical, with one of the blandest villains I've seen in an animated film recently, and the ending is very predictable. In conclusion, looks great but at the end of the day it felt very bland and forgettable. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Lem is just an average teenager except he's an alien on an alien world that resembles more like 50's middle America. He's bad at his job at the planetarium and has a crush on his neighbor Neera. An earth spaceship lands in their backyard and NASA astronaut Chuck Baker emerges. Meanwhile in the secret army Base 9, there is a room filled with Earth objects that have landed over the years. A Rover is activated and goes in search for the new arrival. Chuck is shocked at the inhabitants and run screaming into the planetarium. Lem befriends Chuck and tries to get him back to his ship. General Grawl and the army arrive to fence off the ship before Chuck could get there. Professor Kipple claims the alien could turn them into zombies.

It's a perfectly fine idea of an inverted alien ET landing. The pop 50s reference could be funnier but this is simply boring. There is a real need for many more jokes. Looking at the credits, it looks like Joe Stillman is the only writer in the room. That is probably its biggest programs. It needs other writers to come and sharpen the jokes. This feels like a first draft with an interesting idea. The other problem is that the 50's reference are all old and nobody under 40 would get most of them, let alone the tiny ones.