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Planet 51 (2009)

tomatometer

22

Average Rating: 4.2/10
Reviews Counted: 104
Fresh: 23 | Rotten: 81

Planet 51 squanders an interesting premise with an overly familiar storyline, stock characters, and humor that alternates between curious and potentially offensive.

23

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 17

Planet 51 squanders an interesting premise with an overly familiar storyline, stock characters, and humor that alternates between curious and potentially offensive.

audience

45

liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 344,619

My Rating

Movie Info

An American astronaut believing himself to be the first person ever to set foot on Planet 51 gets the shock of his life in this animated adventure comedy featuring the voices of Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, John Cleese, and Gary Oldman. Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker (voice of Johnson) was on a mission to boldly go where no man had gone before, a remote celestial body dubbed Planet 51. The scientific community had surmised that Planet 51 was uninhabited, so when Captain Baker steps out of his

PG, 1 hr. 31 min.

Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy

Joe Stillman

Mar 9, 2010

$42.2M

Sony Pictures/TriStar Pictures

Cast

All Critics (105) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (23) | Rotten (81) | DVD (4)

This has the directionless, recycled feel of a script by committee.

November 24, 2009 Full Review Source: USA Today | Comment
USA Today
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An uninspired computer-animated feature that may satisfy undiscriminating pipsqueaks and nearly no one else, Planet 51 is a low-IQ E.T. in reverse...

November 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | Comment
Philadelphia Inquirer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Young children and adults with high pain thresholds will enjoy the movie during its brief pause on the way to your On Demand menu.

November 24, 2009 Full Review Source: Boston Globe | Comment
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The whole thing is just terrible.

November 23, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comments (3)
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This sharp-looking but unimaginative adventure hasn't the wit of similar kiddie flicks.

November 20, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Daily News | Comment
New York Daily News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie as a whole isn't exactly ground-breaking, and some of the humor tanks. But it has enough action, laughs and candy-hued visuals to satisfy the target audience without plunging grown-ups into despair.

November 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | Comment
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

"A poorly conceived comedy spotlighting a collection of anal-centric humor that's about as appealing as baseball bat to the face."

June 2, 2010 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | Comment
BrianOrndorf.com

In terms of animation, Planet 51 is out of this world. Then there's the story and the characters, which are about as dull as a dirty penny.

March 13, 2010 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Comment (1)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

A short-sighted assembly of sci-fi references and scatalogical humor that should nonetheless placate undemanding tots ... for ninety minutes or so.

December 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinematical | Comment
Cinematical

Nothing really gels and Planet 51 just comes across as shrill, rushed and unfunny.

December 15, 2009 Comment
fantastiqueZINE

While certainly diverting, its overly frantic attempts at humour, pointless homages to other films and lack of charm mean it falls some way short. It's not terrible but neither is it memorable.

December 13, 2009 Comment
sbs.com.au

A charming spoof of cold-war alien paranoia, this is visually inventive and full of action, but could do with more humour.

December 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | Comment
Sunday Times (UK)

A thin joke becomes attenuated to breaking point.

December 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment (1)
Observer [UK]

Well and truly aimed at kids, Planet 51 is a film they will thoroughly enjoy yet which any accompanying adult will have lots of laughs in too.

December 9, 2009 Full Review Source: smh.com.au | Comment
smh.com.au

Just how much of this will be appreciated by children is questionable, but the film is clearly intended to keep them happy with lashings of colour, movement and cheesy jokes while older, diehard geeks can enjoy all the reference spotting.

December 9, 2009 Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | Comment
The Age (Australia)

Funny and well designed, but doesn't live up to potential due to uninspired dialogue and heavy hand of marketing.

December 9, 2009 Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | Comment
FILMINK (Australia)

The screenplay aims wide for every snappy, pop-culture joke that can possibly be cracked. But the viewer's funnybone remains an elusive target.

December 9, 2009 Full Review Source: Herald Sun (Australia) | Comment
Herald Sun (Australia)

Little kids who've never seen this story before might get a kick out of it and its bold colours. Parents will be yawning and looking at their watches. At least G-Force dared you to hate it; this just dares you to stay awake.

December 7, 2009 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine Australasia | Comments (2)
Empire Magazine Australasia

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Planet 51 was written by a bunch of monkeys...who were trapped in a room with some typewriters. Surprisingly, the works of Shakespeare are the only texts they haven't blatantly ripped off.

December 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Cut Print Review | Comment
Cut Print Review

Glar and his friends are more or less all-purpose protestors, showing up on sidewalks with placards announcing, "We're really upset!" over nothing specific. And that makes them about as amiable and as bland as everyone else on Planet 51.

December 4, 2009 Full Review Source: PopMatters | Comment
PopMatters
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Planet 51

A pretty generic film. My daughter loved it as soon as she saw Dwayne Johnson was in it lol. Not much to this film in the long run.

November 28, 2009
jmanard52

Super Reviewer

The whole storyline is something everyone will know they have seen before. Some jokes were funny, others were embarassing and it treads too much into E.T territory Resultingly, Planet 51 isn't good family entertainment. The animation is pretty good but the characters are either cardboard cut out or borrowed from other

November 5, 2011
Michael M.
Michael Miller

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Plančte 51 (FR)
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