Planet 51 , an animated film about an alternate Earth still living in the 1950s (while the inhabitants are green and sport antennas on their heads, they speak English) that is invaded by modern man, is likely to an alternate audience -- families. It's receiving so-so reviews. "Although not bowling me over, Planet 51 is a jolly and good-looking animated feature in glorious 2D," writes the Chicago Sun-Times 's Roger Ebert, who is no fan of most animated 3D features. Stephen Holden in the New York Times calls it "agreeable but flagrantly unoriginal." Annie Biancolli in the San Francisco Chronicle regards Planet 51 as "an innocuous computerized bauble." And Nancy Churnin in the Dallas Morning News says it's "definitely a planet worth a visit." But Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer regards it as an "uninspired computer-animated feature that may satisfy undiscriminating pipsqueaks and nearly no one else." Yet, Jan Horwitz notes in the Washington Post , "Most of the jokes are geared to adults and are a little tasteless, yet the story itself seems aimed at kids." Similarly, Ty Burr writes in the Boston Globe that the movie is "obnoxiously written, with too many cutesy-dirty double-entendres that are meant to appeal to the grown-ups but that only make the movie seem cringingly infantile."
20/11/2009
