2013 Movie Review of Escape From Planet Earth…
Last week we had the chance to see our first family-friendly movie of 2013, Escape from Planet Earth. This light-hearted, computer-animated film follows two alien brothers from the planet Baab with one being the brains and one being the brawn on official missions. A rescue mission to the “Dark Planet” (aka Earth) goes wrong and it’s up to Gary, the brains, to save his brother and thwart the plans of a bitter Area 51 director.
We had high expectations for this movie with all the greatness we saw in last year’s films. Sadly, this one did not live up to them. That’s not to say it wasn’t a nice flick. Young children from the ages of 4-10 will likely enjoy this film. The little ‘boy’, Kip, is an exciting, adventurous, and smart kid who loves his family but just wants to have fun. He’s easy to relate to and I liked that he had a respectful, balanced relationship with his parents overall. There are several one-liners and visual gags perfectly tailored to younger viewers.
However, for parents and older tweens/teens, it’s kind of boring. The story is predictable and character development is shallow. It’s one of those movies that you watch as-is. There are no deeper plots and several ‘holes’ in comprehensive logic creep in. For example, three other aliens were stranded on earth for years yet, for some reason, after escaping back into space their planets are completely bypassed and they aren’t returned home. Even my daughter was saying that didn’t make sense. Also, how is it the most intelligent aliens in the universe are so clueless?
While there are a few big names in the credits, the voice acting is sub-par and seem completely unconnected with the on-screen characters. The theme song by Bruno Mars is also a strange pairing as the lyrics allude to a proud practice of seducing women, using them, then leaving them heartbroken so he can move on and do it again with someone else. Not quite the message I want being sent to young boys and girls.
Escape From Planet Earth is a movie most appealing to young children. It’s 1-1/2 hours of sibling rivalry, silly aliens, and pieces of tape that explode. The story is very easy to follow and there aren’t any dramatic or dark scenes. The graphics are slick and characters are overall happy ones. After leaving the theater, all thoughts of the film are over and done and you can discuss where to get something to eat.
My family and I were provided a gift card to watch this movie and provide our honest opinion.
33 comments
That sounds like a super cute movie! Thanks for the review, I will definitely need to check that out with my son. Cool!
You’re welcome. I hope he likes it.
I am dying to see this one with my son, it looks hilarious! It’s one of two on his list right now, so hopefully he’ll pick it for our next movie day.
What was the other one?
My husband and a couple of the kids saw this the other day. They loved it!
So glad they liked it!
Great review and good to know that it’s targeted more towards younger kids.
I have this on our “must-see” list! My kids adore aliens and the screen shots I have seen look fabulous.
So was it a winner for your family?
I was so excited when I learned that this movie received The Dove Foundation seal of approval. It seems too many movies that are marketed to children, aren’t really made “for” children. While we don’t have littles around the house any more so won’t be seeing it in theaters, I’m kind of looking forward to catching it on DVD or MOD.
We had kind of mixed emotions. It was good and not good at the same time. It’s nice to see a movie hit the big screen without all that junk in it though.
Thanks for the heads up on this movie! I will skip this one until Michael is old enough to get into movies.
You’re welcome. It’s hard to gauge a child’s interest, especially if they’re very young.
We saw the movie before it was in theaters, and really really loved it! It was fantastic!
That’s great – I’m glad to hear the boys liked it!
We just saw this on Sunday! My kids loved it.
Glad to hear it!
I’ve been hearing bad things about this movie from everyone.
Really? It seemed like all the reviews I read online had nothing but praise for it. I felt like the odd ball out…
We’re planning to see this soon!
Ooh, I’m sure your little ones liked it!
What a cute movie! We hope to see this next weekend as a family!
Let me know what you thought about it.
I think this looks super cute.
It’s all pretty innocent and that’s kind of refreshing.
Sounds like a cute movie and perfect for my sons age.
He’d probably really enjoy it!
looks like so much fun I’d love to see this
If you do, I hope you enjoy it 🙂
Thanks so much for being honest. It sounds like just my youngest boys would like this one, so I think we’ll be skipping it.
You’re welcome. Sometimes I feel funny when everywhere else I see people raving about it. Am I too critical? Oh, well, that’s how we keep it real 😛 Maybe it will be a great film for family movie night at home.
Sounds like we’ll be waiting for this to come out on DVD instead of seeing it at the theater 🙂
Many liked it but I wouldn’t risk the $12/pp on an iffy movie. You’ll probably enjoy it more at home anyway.
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