Escape from Planet Earth | Film review - Breezy animated sci-fi romp

The aliens are the goodies and the earthlings the baddies in breezy animated sci-fi romp Escape from Planet Earth, which sees a nerdy mission-control desk jockey from Planet Baab striving to rescue his bigheaded astronaut brother from peril on the ‘Dark Planet’ - that’s Earth to you and me.

Star Trek’s William Shatner provides another spot of role reversal by voicing the villain, an American general who has been locking up extraterrestrials at secret airbase Area 51 for decades to steal their technology (did you imagine humans came up with mobile phones and the internet all on their own?).

The animation is hardly out of this world, but a script polish from Stephen Fry and others means that there is a sprinkling of good gags to accompany the siblings’ adventures. Amid a voice cast headed by Rob Corddry, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jessica Alba, listen out for Ricky Gervais as a talking computer.

Certificate U. Runtime 84 mins. Director Cal Brunker.

Released on Blu-ray & DVD by Entertainment in Video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1NhAUsyslk

CATEGORIES

A film critic for over 25 years, Jason admits the job can occasionally be glamorous – sitting on a film festival jury in Portugal; hanging out with Baz Luhrmann at the Chateau Marmont; chatting with Sigourney Weaver about The Archers – but he mostly spends his time in darkened rooms watching films. He’s also written theatre and opera reviews, two guide books on Rome, and competed in a race for Yachting World, whose great wheeze it was to send a seasick film critic to write about his time on the ocean waves. But Jason is happiest on dry land with a classic screwball comedy or Hitchcock thriller.