Planet 51

2009

Planet 51

Critics Consensus

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

22%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 108

40%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 357,041
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Movie Info

Planet 51 is a galactic-sized animated alien adventure comedy revolving around American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker, who lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world reminiscent of a cheerfully innocent 1950s America, and whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders...like Chuck! With the help of his robot companion "Rover" and his new friend Lem, Chuck must navigate his way through the dazzling, but bewildering, landscape of Planet 51 in order to escape becoming a permanent part of the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum.

Cast

Dwayne Johnson
as Chuck Baker
Jessica Biel
as Neera
Justin Long
as Lem
Seann William Scott
as Skiff
Gary Oldman
as General Grawl
John Cleese
as Professor Kipple

News & Interviews for Planet 51

Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
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Critic Reviews for Planet 51

All Critics (108) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (84)

  • 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.

    Dec 9, 2009 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Jim Schembri

    The Age (Australia)
    Top Critic

  • There's enough of a storyline here to keep younger space cadets moderately settled.

    Dec 4, 2009 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Derek Adams

    Time Out
    Top Critic

  • A hideously annoying and emotionally blank tale.

    Dec 4, 2009 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…

    Kevin Maher

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • It could have added up to something. Alas, any excitement is submerged by the relentless barrage of trite sci-fi allusions and nudge-nudge gags aimed solely at adults.

    Dec 4, 2009 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Sukhdev Sandhu

    Daily Telegraph (UK)
    Top Critic

  • Good fun if you can put up with the pastel colours and plasticky textures, which show that in modern fantasy animation all that pixellates isn't Pixar.

    Dec 4, 2009 | Rating: 3/5

    Nigel Andrews

    Financial Times
    Top Critic

  • It's frenetic and knowing in the modern manner, though, a couple of good gags apart, not very funny. Its patchiness merely demonstrates the gap between Pixar and the rest of the field - which is the distance between genius and talent.

    Dec 4, 2009 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Anthony Quinn

    Independent (UK)
    Top Critic
View All Critic Reviews (108)

Audience Reviews for Planet 51

  • Nov 11, 2018
    The film has a fun concept but the overall story is lacking and the voice cast is somewhat subdued. The twist on the 50s paranoia was an inspired choice and the fun is spotting all the pulp culture references, this is probably why I enjoyed this film more than the typical audience. The biggest flaw is the short running time and characters that don't connect as well as you would like. The turnaround to create this film is probably why it feels so shallow, it was half the production of a standard animated film. In a competitive market a film like Planet 51 fails to impress and when Dawyne Johnson is tamed right down, you begin to realise this film was a massive missed opportunity. Good for the kids and something you can sink your teeth into but not a great film. 08/11/2018.
    Brendan N Super Reviewer
  • Jul 16, 2015
    The Rock has landed in the animated family comedy Planet 51. When astronaut Chuck Baker visits a mysterious planet he discovers that it's populated and has a civilization that's not unlike his own. Featuring the voice talents of Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, and Jessica Biel, the cast is pretty good. However, the comedy is rather broad; with a lot of cheap jokes and slapstick. Also, the animation style is pretty generic and a little rough in some spots. Still, there's a bit of charm and cleverness to the '50s sci-fi motif. For a kid's film Planet 51 isn't that bad, but older audiences won't find much here for them.
    Dann M Super Reviewer
  • Mar 11, 2012
    Gorgeous animation but it doesn't quite make the leap to fantastic.
    Sean S Super Reviewer
  • Nov 05, 2011
    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 better films.
    Directors C Super Reviewer
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