Escape From Planet Earth

This is very much by-numbers pre-teen fare, spiced up by the sound of William Shatner enjoying himself.

Its secret weapon is a satirically inclined script, reworked by Stephen Fry among others, that disrupts the general factory-line vibe with regular funny lines.

An animated film that goes lamely where many have gone before.

The best thing I can say about Escape From Planet Earth is that I didn't end up hating it as much as I thought I was going to during the first half.

Just like its hero and his grounded starship, Escape From Planet Earth is, for much of the film, a decidedly earthbound adventure.

Colorful as the 3-D aliens-among-us comedy is to look at, though, Corddry is handed a role that's beige as can be, and so are his castmates.

Outside of a couple of brief lulls, there isn't much to complain about.

One only has to think of Battlefield Earth and After Earth to realise that putting the name of our planet into a movie title isn't always a good idea. Happily, Escape From Planet Earth is a reasonable exception.

The animation is hardly out of this world, but a script polish from Stephen Fry and others means that there is a sprinkling of good gags to accompany the siblings' adventures.

It's a lively, unpretentious adventure that should delight young children and has enough pop culture gags and sly humor to amuse their parents.