Fly Me to the Moon

No big action scenes, no adult humor that the kids don't understand, this is just a nice calm cartoon that you can watch with your kids before bedtime. It won't rev them up or get them to jump up and down. Thy might even like flys after watching this flick.

Postitives, The color palette of the movie, reminds me of a bygone era. The scenery is pleasant. Music is calm.

Parental guide, The flies use the word Crap a few times and one of the flies refers to the others as idiots.

Plot is slow but it does tell a good story about the space launch that put a man on the moon. It is not a Pixar or Disney high end animated feature that we are so programmed to expect in animation nowadays. It just a slow nicely done movie for young kids...it probably not for you if you are an adult and watching it without kids.

The animation in this wasn't too bad, and the story wasn't the most original concept (surprisingly sentient characters, in this case flies, piggybacking on an existing human story or adventure), but still entertaining enough for a kiddie/family cartoon movie.

What made this awful was the voice acting by the kids that voiced the three main characters. All of the others were passable, but dialogue between those three made me feel like I was sitting through a table-reading in a second grade classroom.

I don't know if it was bad coaching or directing, or the kids themselves (who sounded just fine in the live-action features I've seen featuring them). Regardless, this was one prime example of a studio being so obsessed with finding a voice that was even mildly recognizable that they passed on quality.

That awkward line-reading made it almost seem as though they made the rest of the movie and then found kids to read the words that had already been animated, or as if they just plugged in dialogue from a read-through when they auditioned. All entertainment would cease as soon as the main characters started talking, and we just sat and waited impatiently for them to finish awkwardly pushing out their lines.

Ugh. Good job pushing this piece of crap instead of funding 3 or 4 other productions that may have been worth watching.

1st the good news. The 3-D is spectacularly well done, and they don't go for the gotcha gimmicks. The film is based on the true story of the high point in human history, and even features one of the actual participants in that story: Buzz Aldrin.

And now the meat of the matter: It's about FLIES, for krissakes! Flies with big, googy human eyes, true, but flies nonetheless. Remember when I likened the "Underworld" movies to rats vs. cockroaches? That wasn't intended as praise, and I never dreamed anyone would take it literally. This one's got even less empathy going for it. Baby maggots? Ugh. In one of those odd confluences of Hollywood groupthink, this flik was evidently on the drawing boards at the same time as "Space Chimps", also about critters in space.

Go rent "Apollo 13" and see a 9-rated movie about the REAL space program (RIP).

The movie is fine; and fun for kids who are in the bug stage. I never took cartoons at face value even as a kid and I am not seeing my daughter do it either. If the flies not being perfect are what you are worrying about as opposed to the idea that flies talk than this movie is not for you. I have never met a child who could not point out a fly or an ant, or a potato bug, etc...

As to the patriotism - a bit here and there doesn't hurt - we have lost our way a bit and maybe some good patriotism can help us find some pride in the good we have done, either way I doubt this movie will affect anyone all that much. Saying that note that patriotism is not nationalism, though I know the universities tell you that.

Of course there are flaws with it, but it is not as bad as people say it is, but it could have been much better. It is dull in comparison to works by Pixar and Dreamworks, but I did actually enjoy it. There are better animated films out there, namely Beauty and the Beast but there have been a lot worse animated films as well, like the sequel to the Secret of Nimh. The script has its ups and downs, but I did actually laugh at a bit of the humour that was attempted. I do agree though that the female flies fainting act was overdone quite badly. The animation, in its 2D and 3D form is actually nicely done, in fact a vast majority of it was amazing. The main flaw with the film is the story. A bit slow and predictable, but the voice talents did well to redeem themselves in the slower bits. Another problem was the ending, Buzz Aldrin telling us that this wasn't a true story was unnecessary, we know that already. About the pace, although the film is relatively short, it just feels longer. But believe me, there has been a lot worse 3D films like Spy Kids 3, (with little sense of wonder, predictable story lines and an embarrassing cameo from Sylvester Stallone) The voice talents were very good. Christopher Lloyd made a good effort with Grandpa, and the three child flies were well done. Nicollette Sheridan also did well as his love interest, Nadia. Tim Curry, Russian accent and all, a little reminiscent of Von Talon in Valiant, also does well, despite his character being in the film for about 10 minutes, and his questionably meagre material. Most impressed me most was the soundtrack, with "Fly me To The Moon" and Strauss's Blue Danube waltz, which is one of my favourite pieces of classical music. All in all, a good film, that suffered because of the story, but I will say it was very dull at times. Whether you want to watch it is up to you. 7/10. Bethany Cox