ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH

year: 2013 voices: Rob Corrdry, William Shatner, Brendan Fraser rating: ***

As the people of planet Earth, we see ourselves as being either too polluting and therefore doomed, or else Fallen and thus, damned. So if we don't have that bright an outlook, it’s no surprise other solar systems view us as the most backward/de-evolved globe in the cosmos, or as one alien calls it, The Dark Planet. (Or maybe Hollywood's doing their usual self effacing thing but in a much wider scope.)

Why one particular alien/astronaut named Scorch Supernova, the big brave Buzz Lightyear of a techie planet known as Baab, whose brother, Gary, is a passive yet brilliant mission control leader, decides to visit the infamous Earth is never quite clear. But he does, immediately crash landing in Roswell, New Mexico, and quickly taken captive by evil General Shanker, who has collected – inside his Area 51 containment center – an assortment of alien prisoners while planning to build something stronger than an Atomic bomb.

Shanker's world domination plot aside, for a kids movie it’s never too intense, and there are enough action sequences for adults to keep interest. The characters are likable and the settings minimal: Once our blue alien heroes leave their own planet, we have only the prison to escape from, a few white trash trailers outside and one 7/11.

Despite the overall simplicity, ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH never drags and doesn’t try to be more than a basic escape flick and best yet, actors Brendan Frasier (Scorch), Rob Corddry (Gary) and General Shanker (William Shatner) don’t sound like lazy celebrities providing their own recognizable voices while letting the animators do all the work. Now that's something to admire.