PLANET 51 (C-)

Starring the voices of: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel , Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Seann William Scott and John Cleese

Story: 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. (Sony Pictures)

Rated: PG for mild sci-fi action and some suggestive humor

Bottom Line: Younger kids will love this ET story in reverse - but most adults will dismiss it as a lightweight, sugar-coated, missed-opportunity animated feature that boldly goes where more than a dozen uncreative, animated movies have gone before this year. ‘Phone home’…is what you should tell your kids to do after they’ve seen it (without you) and need someone to pick ‘em up (but they’ll probably be like 5, 6 or 7 so never mind – that’s bad parenting).