We watched this movie on Netflix and I found that it was pretty tame. It was moderately entertaining but nothing that we would purchase to watch again. I watched it with my 12 year old who liked it a little better than me and my 3 year old who got bored and ran off after about 20 minutes.
Another unimaginative animation. A cookie cutter, appeal to the lowest common intelligence level movie. It didn't know what it wanted to be a seemed cut and pasted. The adult references were obscure even for the adults.....:"singing in the rain?" I'm 46 and that was still before my time. Just a dumb, dumb, waste of money
This could've been a fun, family movie, but they really blew it with all the double entendre and several positively unsettling moments in the movie. It starts out with a couple of alien teens "parking" in the moonlight. Also, watch out for the remark later about the "duck". Worst of all, when the American astronaut stands up from an operating room table and his only clothing, a towel, falls off, nothing is shown, but a completely tasteless, tacky and vulgar remark is made. (I'm sure that was supposed to be a big laugh moment, but it was so over-the-top out of place, we just sat there in stunned silence.) This movie had it's moments and was cute around the edges and may be o.k. for older teens, much older, but it is no kids movie. I repeat, IT IS NO KIDS MOVIE!!! I won't take the time to discuss what could've possibly been the underlying political-social-spiritual themes implied by the abundance of head-in-the sand aliens, (aliens to us,) who thought that their small "five hundred miles" broad universe revolved around them. (The producers of this movie seem to be very unhappy about the idea of traditionalism and listening to your parents.) It's such a shame that you can't watch a PG cartoon with your children these days. We will not buy the blu ray!
This was a silly movie. I enjoyed the take-offs on movie favorites, like WALL-E and Singing in the Rain. I did not find it offensive. I actually found it pretty tame.
I was quite disappointed in this movie. I took my two sons, ages 9 and 5. They only laughed / chuckled maybe twice throughout the entire show. There were also several references that I would rather not have them see or hear in a children's movie. There are several, although vaugue, references to anal probing. One character uses the word "freakin'." Also, during a scene where the astronaut is naked, one of the "aliens" says "that's a funny place for your antenna." I would recommend this movie as a rental - but it's not worth the money spent at the theatre.
I was really dissapointed with this movie. I did not check the rating before I let my son watch this since I assumed an animated movie would be safe. But when my 6 year old mentioned a "funny place for an antenna" I researched it and discovered the other sexual themes. It's really difficult to teach your child about appropriate behavior and potentially dangerous situations when cartoons make light of them. I wouldn't recommend this movie at all, but if it were the only thing on, only to kids 13 and up.
I think the violence was a little too much for the younger crowd (if they would even pay attention to it). There is firepower with weapons and two aliens are disintegrated by guns. Plus a later scene where a bunch are shooting at each other and then electrocute themselves (my husband found that part funny...at least). That is my main concern with the movie. The anal probing is a little overdone, but at a certain age they just think that is what to expect of aliens and I don't think most kids would think sexually about it. As for the penis joke, I didn't like it because it was haphazardly thrown in during what should be an emotional peak in the movie (the astronaut had just been rescued from having his brain removed). Past that, I wouldn't cringe from any age seeing this part of the movie. Boys have penises, get over it. It wasn't sexual, nothing about sex was mentioned. It was an obscure reference that there is something different down there. I'm assuming most little boys already know they have something there and any girl with a little brother knows too. After all that, there were some cute parts and I liked Rover. I've seen worse...
A so-so kids' movie, with little to entertain adults
This movie tries hard to pack in gags for adults -- from its constant references to more famous films to a handful of off-color jokes that fly way over kids' heads -- but it's just mild family entertainment. Even with a handful of jokes that try to be risqué, it's pretty hard to find anything in this movie to get excited about. The story, the characters, and the laughs are all remarkably bland. Kids might giggle here and there; Rover, in particular, is cutely amusing. Some of the background design is actually kind of neat, with distinctively rounded architecture and engineering (even books have keyhole-like shapes) but that's precious little to keep grown-ups from checking their watches. "Planet 51" is mostly harmless and fairly forgettable.
I thought it was very entertaining. I did not appreciate the humor about body parts and cavities. It DID NOT go over my 5 year old's head about the "antennae" - she promptly shouted "That's not an antennae, that's his p...." It was unnecessary and really annoyed me that the movie company put some of that stuff in there - it made me feel a bit "tricked" into seeing a family movie that was questionable even for my 8 year old.
That said, I really liked the characters - the astronaut was fun, and I did like the message about friendship, and also about diversity.
My 5 year old son and I saw this and we both agreed that it wasn't a very good movie. He didn't like it at all, too scary for him, although I thought it was tame compared to some movies aimed at this age group. There are some crude jokes and negative messages.
It is worth taking your little ones to the film, however any other age group would find it boring
This film is quite funny at some parts, and even small children will like the slapstick comedy. There was a joke about someone's private parts but other than that, it's safe for anyone to watch. I only had a few chuckles and those parts was all from the trailer. But your little ones will probably love this movie.
It was ok not the best movie. The message was about accepting peoples difference and looking under the skin, but I did not like that the message got lost in the alien propaganda. All the similes to earth while cute were missing the pop of a good kids movie. I probably would not watch this movie again and diffently wouldn't buy it.
Totally lame. The adults did not like nor did the kids (10 year old boy and two 7 year old girls. Might be worth renting, but save your money on the theater tickets.
Character growth does not compensate for negative messages throughout
We were on the border of walking out with our 6-yo daughter after 15 minutes. Jokes for adults about anal probes, penis-as-antenna. Too much violence between characters. Male alien staring at female alien's cleavage was made into a joke. Astronaut teaches main character into how to seduce women. Chick-magnet talk. Horrifying threat of brain removal via circular saw, revisited at end credits. Lots of "gunplay". Minor character growth does not redeem the gratuitous lowbrow stimulation. Product placements were pretty obvious. I think this would be fine beginning early teens.
That honor goes to Doogal, but this is still pretty bad. I can look past the uninspired story if not for these lame attempts at humor. It seemed as if the writers had no idea what working beyond the target audience meant. Outdated pop culture references... well, that's a start... got anything else? Witty dialogue? A smart cast of characters? No? I'll give it this: It did manage to accurately portray how people back in the 50's really would have reacted to aliens, but still! This movie just had nothing going for it. Even the visuals weren't that great.