Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

67 3 Idiots
47 44 Inch Chest
82 Ajami
71 American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein
73 Amreeka
75 Art of the Steal, The
43 Barefoot to Timbuktu
19 Bitch Slap
49 Blood Done Sign My Name
24 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76 Broken Embraces
52 Celine: Through the Eyes of the World
67 Children of Invention
65 City Island
64 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
84 Cove, The
83 Crazy Heart
21 Crazy on the Outside
51 Creation
xx Daddy Long Legs
81 Damned United, The
57 Defendor
61 Delta
68 Departures
64 District 13: Ultimatum
72 Easier with Practice
85 Education, An
61 Exploding Girl, The
70 Eyes Wide Open
24 Falling Awake
81 Fish Tank
56 For My Father
52 Formosa Betrayed
xx From Mexico with Love
43 Frozen
xx Ghost Town
77 Ghost Writer, The
69 Girl on the Train, The
73 Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The
47 Good Guy, The
78 Greenberg
35 Happy Tears
68 Harlan: In the Shadow of Jew Suess
20 Harlem Aria
xx Killing Jar, The
52 Killing Kasztner
xx Kimjongilia
41 Last New Yorker, The
76 Last Station, The
47 Little Traitor, The
51 Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
71 Lourdes
73 Me and Orson Welles
77 Messenger, The
80 Mid-August Lunch
57 Missing Person, The
76 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
79 Mother
50 My Name is Khan
88 Neil Young Trunk Show
49 Nine
67 North Face
64 October Country
67 Off and Running
52 Paranoids, The
40 Phyllis and Harold
49 Pop Star on Ice
49 Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
74 Prodigal Sons
xx Promised Lands (Re-release)
89 Prophet, A
76 Red Riding Trilogy, The
63 Runaways, The
32 Saint John of Las Vegas
83 Secret of Kells, The
69 September Issue, The
36 Serious Moonlight
57 Severe Clear
63 Shinjuku Incident, The
xx Shutterbug
77 Single Man, A
76 Still Bill
34 Stolen
xx Suicide Girls Must Die!
52 Tales from the Script
74 Terribly Happy
74 That Evening Sun
47 To Die for Tano
19 To Save a Life
63 Toe to Toe
69 Town Called Panic, A
54 Until the Light Takes Us
60 Videocracy
84 Vincere
66 Waiting for Armageddon
45 White on Rice
82 White Ribbon
xx White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights, The
43 Women in Trouble
xx Word is Out
64 Yellow Handkerchief, The
64 Young Victoria, The

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Planet 51

EMAILPRINTTriStar Pictures (Sony)

Planet 51 reviews
39
5.4 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 77 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Adventure  |  Animation  |  Comedy  |  Family/Kids  |  Fantasy

Written by: Joe Stillman

Directed by: Jorge Blanco

Release Date:
Theatrical: November 20, 2009
DVD: March 9, 2010

Running Time: 87 minutes, Color

Origin: Spain | UK

Summary

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

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

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)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75

Entertainment Weekly Adam Markovitz

Delivers a few pleasant surprises, including a smart story -- a reverse-E.T. riff that plops an American astronaut down in a world of just-like-us-only-green creatures -- and clever characters.

Read Full Review >
63

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Although not bowling me over, Planet 51 is a jolly and good-looking animated feature in glorious 2-D.

Read Full Review >
50

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

What's missing is originality and story and inventiveness.

Read Full Review >
50

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Largely, it’s a jellybean of a movie: bright, colorful, sugary, and with no real content.

Read Full Review >
50

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

This movie, which was made by an animation studio in Spain, isn't trying to make a social statement; it speaks in the international language of lightweight comedy.

Read Full Review >
50

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

A perky though not terribly imaginative feature aimed primarily at youngsters.

Read Full Review >
50

Los Angeles Times Glenn Whipp

It's a missed opportunity. The premise is OK enough, even if it is like one of those old "Star Trek" episodes.

Read Full Review >
50

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Bursting with potential that never gets realized.

Read Full Review >
50

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

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.

Read Full Review >
50

San Francisco Chronicle Amy Biancolli

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.

Read Full Review >
40

Film Threat Elias Savada

Perhaps Planet 51 should have added a dash of Pedro Almodovar, one of Spain's preeminent directors.

Read Full Review >
40

Time Out New York Nick Schager

Neither the film’s main players nor its random period spoofery has any personality.

Read Full Review >
40

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Agreeable but flagrantly unoriginal.

Read Full Review >
40

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

Movie references abound, but there's not enough humor to fuel even 90 minutes.

Read Full Review >
40

Variety Todd McCarthy

There's nothing funny, provocative or involving about what "Shrek" co-writer Joe Stillman and the team from Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios do with the notion here.

Read Full Review >
40

Village Voice Brian Miller

Like "E.T." in reverse, this pleasantly mediocre CG animation tale lands an astronaut on a distant planet.

Read Full Review >
40

Chicago Reader Cliff Doerksen

The script lacks wit, and the in-joke references to cinematic sci-fi classics will soar over little kids' heads without pleasing many adults.

Read Full Review >
38

Boston Globe Ty Burr

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

Read Full Review >
38

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Planet 51 is cute, but it's no "Shrek."

Read Full Review >
25

New York Post Kyle Smith

Yet the moral at the end is that we should all be more tolerant of different cultures. Is that really true, though, if the culture you're trying to tolerate is trying to open your skull with a circular saw?

Read Full Review >
20

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

While expertly executed animation-wise and passably entertaining for very young kids (less so, their parents), is still as dull as the hull on Rocketship X-M.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.4 (out of 10) based on 77 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael C. gave it a9:
Its not the best animation movie of the year, but its really funny to see, with high quality 3D, simple argument (But simple isn't bad) with some memorable jokes. Ill be really proud if my first animation movie would be like that!! I recommend it.

Antonio M. gave it a9:
This is a very intelligent (and fun) movie, in the line of Shrek-1 (no surprise as Joe Stillman is the writer in both). I went to see it with my 5 years old daughter and she liked it a lot...but I liked it more because I could understand most of the intelligent jokes which the film is literally filled with. From the title (clear reference to Area 51 where the aliens are supposed to be kept secretly by the U.S.), to references to films like Alien, E.T., B series movies (50 feet woman,...), like details in the background (Comics starring a green giant called "Bulked" (Hulk)... Despite not being as round as Shrek-1, it clearly has much more attention to detail to make jokes even on the background as the main action is taking place. As said, a good film for kids but even better film for adults with other movies background. Very intelligent.

Eugene Z gave it a10:
This movie is the SMARTEST animation that I've ever seen (along with “Shrek”-1). It's a parody on our society and behavior, based on prejudice-propaganda-brainwashing, and clear prediction what could happen if “aliens” would come. The movie is funny (and even uses some kind of plagiarism in context to make it funnier) I really like it (as well as my 9-year son) and recommend to anyone. See the movie, enjoy, get some fun and laugh ... on ourselves' reaction that we'll experience if "alien invasion" would ever happen to us.

Jaime M gave it a10:
A very, very good film!!! Don't trust bad reviews made by stupid people who rate Titanic as a 5/5 stars film. TRUST ME!!! You must see this film if you have a good sense of humor, LOVED IT!!!

Francisco O gave it a10:
Great movie, excellent animation.

Miguel P. gave it a10:
Don't take this bad people but it seems that creeps you out that anybody come to play to your playground. I don't dare to say that this is better than a Pixar's movie, although is far better than Dreamworks "Monsters vs Aliens" By the way the movie is pretty well done to be the first serious Spanish animation movie project.

Matt G. gave it an8:
Visually clever and pretty, not great art but definitely great fun.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | March Madness | TV | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use