I might be a little late on this film, but it does take place during Christmas. I was not excited to see this film, and the only reason why I saw it was because it is free on Netflix. The ads for it did not look good, because I thought it was another “child meets alien” story like E.T., The Iron Giant, Lilo and Stitch, and Earth to Echo.
The trailers for this film did not show the set up. Home begins with a race of aliens called the Boov, who are running away from an evil alien race called the Gorg, and decide to settle on Earth. When the Boov settle in, they basically use their very advanced technology to move all the humans to Australia, while they settle in every other place but Antarctica.
In other words, the human race gets relocated. That is such a great premise, that it should have been on the trailers (maybe it did, I don’t know). The reason why the Boov do this is because they consider the humans animals, and they believe that they are doing humans a favor. In case you are wondering, it looks like the humans couldn’t do much to stop the Boov. There isn’t any Independence Day type of human uprising.
Yes, this is a film for the kids, the that entire cool scene of the relocation takes place in minutes. Much of the film is a lot of quick cuts, revealing that it is for kids, but as I said in my title, adults can enjoy it too. I have already explain one reason.
Adults should enjoy seeing Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory playing the main character of Oh (named because this is what the other Boov say when he comes around). Jim is playing this role as Sheldon Cooper, only without the genius level IQ. In fact, Oh speaks this odd broken English that is humorous, but not really logical.
This film has a lot of things that happen that are also pretty illogical. For example, Oh decides to have a party, and he accidentally hits the “Send All” invite on his circular transparent tablet. This means the Gorg will apparently get the invite, and will come to Earth. Oh then becomes a fugitive, and doesn’t just simply cancel the invite, even though it is established that he can.
Another pretty bad story element is how Tip is left behind during the relocation program. Tip is a little girl who has been left alone in a world full of Boov, and she is played by pop star Rihanna. This was not a good idea, as Rihanna is an adult, but oddly enough, her music seems an appropriate soundtrack. Anyway, the reason why Tip is left behind is because the aliens were scanning Tip’s apartment scanned her cat by mistake. This left Tip without her mother, and we are to assume that she has a single parent.
Now, the way Oh and Tip meet up is typical animated movie fashion That is, they both have something each other wants, and make a deal. In this case, Tip busts her car, and she traps Oh in a convenience store freezer. Oh fixes the car, after Tip lets him out…blah…blah…blah. Then the two realize that they can help each other.
There is also one of those “third act breakups” that is common in most romantic comedies. You know, where the characters have a misunderstanding and separate, then realize that they were both wrong and right and get back together. That is hardly a spoiler.
What I like about this film is its simplicity, which is why I can recommend it for adults. The show is about how people can be mistaken about others, and how we need to learn. It is also about how people in power won’t change and need to be taught a lesson.
The fact that the movie’s title is so simple, I was surprised that it was used. I don’t know if it is the proper title, but it shows how the concept of wanting a place of love and safety is universal. I can’t deny that the story is good, which is why I will recommend it.
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