Planet 51 (DVD)

Coming from the screenwriter responsible for the first two Shrek movies is another tale of green-skinned characters - but unfortunately Planet 51 pales in comparison.

Planet 51 is home to a race of humanoids who speak English and live in a city full of 1950s American drive-in restaurants and cinemas showing cheesy sci-fi invasion movies.

So, when a space shuttle actually lands in one of their gardens, the inhabitants panic, and American astronaut Chuck Baker has to flee. Chased by a military general and a mad scientist who believe Chuck wants to destroy their planet, he is taken in by Lem, a teenage alien.

The movie is mildly amusing at first, establishing the characters and its far-off planet setting. We are shown the 'alien' equivalents of everything we have on earth, such as houses, barbecues, cars and movies.

This is all intriguing enough to maintain interest for a while, but the movie quickly runs out of steam. This is largely due to the excessive references to other films, so most of the jokes will only be appreciated by film buffs. For instance, the astronaut has a pet robot that bears an uncanny resemblance to Wall-E, and there is a tribute to ET. Although Planet 51 aspires to the greatness of the Shrek movies, it has little appeal for adults.