ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (Cal Brunker). 89 minutes. For venues and times, see Movies.
Despite a story that stretches across the galaxy, Escape From Planet Earth treads nothing but familiar territory. With low aspirations and just enough reach to achieve them, this harmless animated space adventure is light years behind what we’ve come to expect thanks to Pixar and DreamWorks.
Brendan Fraser is perfectly generic as Scorch, a buff blue alien from the planet Baab who flies around the universe on heroic missions, backed by his nerdy older brother Gary (Rob Corddry) at mission control. When Scorch is captured and imprisoned on Earth by a maniacal U.S. general (William Shatner) bent on interstellar domination, Gary has to come to his rescue. That’s the simple, undemanding set-up. Somehow, it required four writers to cook up.
The movie has little to offer beyond a few choice gags involving Area 51, a video for not-so-welcome alien immigrants being a high point. While these comic asides keep adult minds from wandering into a mental black hole, nothing here qualifies as memorable.
Stars like George Lopez, Craig Robinson and Jane Lynch merely cash in on their recognizable voices, relying solely on the 3D animation to flesh out their characters.
