This looks blander than unbuttered toast, and it resembles an animated feature seemingly made on auto pilot. We have celebrity voices (Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Gary Oldman, Jessica Biel), a vaguely sitcom-ish 'fish out of water' plot line, and the promise of harmless hi jinks and G or PG-rated slapstick. Since Dwayne Johnson (an actor I usually enjoy) seems to be playing Patrick Warburton, I'm not sure why Sony didn't just hire him instead. Ironically, the picture very much represents a 'safer', more family-friendly variation on the second act of the surprisingly decent The Battle For Terra (which also starred Justin Long). That little-seen sci-fi parable actually had a reason for existing, and it more or less rode the courage of its convictions right up until the end. It should be on DVD very soon, and I highly recommend it.
Scott Mendelson
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