Battle for Terra (2009)

This is actually a pretty good and watchable. Even for a kids movie this has good story, a few dark moments and good action.But the only reason why I watched this movie was because Chris Evens (the actor for Captain America from the MCU) was in it. All I have to say is even though this movie came out when I was 7 I never watched it until I was 17.

Really now. I can't believe I saw this movie only because I liked it's name. What I mean is, even though it's such a good one, I never saw any big posters no reviews or even a trailer before seeing the name on a list of released movies that year. And it was too late into the year to go to a screening. Only now have i seen it when I coincidentally saw a DVD box in store.Visually, the movie was simple and at the same time somehow beautiful. but when battle came, it became a full blown SF battle scene. Very satisfying. Voice acting was good but at times felt dull. Though i noticed it only at a second sitting.story wise, I did expect a story of humans trying to terraform an inhabited planet and decisions following this act. But I never expected to see the "alien" invasion from a perspective of inhabitants in a way that made me think. Think a lot. About what is right and what side is right. Also having a stereotype in my head that modern western animated movies are mainly aimed at children, I think that this movie might not be for those under 7 or 8. Even without gore, the killings were apparent. This movie was full of surprises for me. A rare enjoyable one hour spent. Really. It felt like any full length Hollywood flick. I was engrossed in the happenings and emotions of this movie that i forgot about the passage of time.

I really wanted to like this, mostly because unlike most of CGI animated films, this movie wasn't a comedy, but something more ambitious: A science fiction epic that deals many serious issues, such as the consequences of war, prejudice and ecological destruction…Sadly, most of those themes are poorly treated in this film, being handled in a preachy and simplistic way. At several moments, this movie is even preachier than movies like "Avatar" from James Cameron.Even with the somber post-apocalyptic elements included in the story, most of the film feels flat and unmotivated, without anything remarkable. The ethical conflicts experimented by the main characters are shallowly explored, missing yet again another chance to introduce complex themes into this kind of animated films. It's like the makers of this film were afraid to do something truly dramatic or intense. Even the scenes that were supposed to be "dramatic" were unable to cause any emotion on me.While I can appreciate "Battle for Terra" as a meritorious effort to make something different with CGI animation, I can hardly enjoy this film. Personally, I think that it is way too preachy and simplistic to be interesting for the adults, but at the same time, it is too heave handed and dull to keep the interest of the children. That's a shame, considering the great potential of the plot.

Usually I tend to judge a movie based on the trailer. Bad idea sometimes. Usually the trailer takes the funniest parts of the movie and puts them together. Then when I watch the movie, it really isn't as funny as it could be.In this case, the trailer was really cheesy. I doubted it would be good, but decided to look it up anyway. To my surprise, it was actually done quite well.The movie basically consists of the future, humans are evil and are trying to take over a planet to repopulate and settle. The planet they chose is inhabited by aliens. One human manages to end up being with one of the aliens, and they get along. The human has a robot as a companion. After a lot of discovering, they finally end up in a giant battle. Then the main human hero sacrifices his life to stop his own race from destroying the humans.I actually found it to be a lot better than I thought. I was expecting another bad movie like Romeo and Juliet. But it was a lot better.Rated 8/10.