By Austin Chiavaroli, Staff Writer
DreamWorks has made people of all ages laugh, cry, and smile with their past movies, such as “Madagascar,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” and the “Shrek” series. On the other hand, “Home,” directed by Tim Johnson, brings families closer together on an adventure with a curious alien and a teenage girl. The film is based off of the children’s book, “The True Meaning of Smekday,” written by Adam Rex in 2007.
The film is about a small purple alien named Oh (Jim Parsons) who is part of a race called the Boovs. Running from their enemies the Gorgs, the Boovs search for a planet in which they can call home. Their sights fall on the planet Earth and they quickly begin their invasion. Not wanting to harm the humans, the Boov’s relocate most of the human race to other parts of Earth. The Boovs then settle in, and Oh decides to get an apartment.
When Oh tries to invite all of his friends by e-mail over to a housewarming party, he accidently sends the message to the Gorg enemy as well. The Boov race declares him banished and chase after him. He meets a human teenage girl named Tip and her cat Pig, as she traps Oh into a refrigerator. He finds out that Tip was separated from her mother in the relocation of the humans and has gained a grudge against the Boov race. However, after Oh explains about his current situation and the Boov police hot on his tail she releases the Boov and has him turn her car into a hover car for them to escape in. When the Boov try to delete the message Oh sent, they find that they need him in order to get the password to his e-mail. Now Oh and Tip wander around the world as the Boov Police track them down to get the password.
The imagery and color scheme in this movie are beautiful, as they use a multitude of vibrant colors. Vibrant colors are important in children’s movies because they hold the youthful audience’s attention, as well as distract from simplistic storylines.
Jim Parsons does a good job voice acting Oh by making the character sound curious and sporadically happy whenever the he learns something new. One of the best scenes in the movie is when Boov begins dancing and freaks out due to Earth being new to him.
The movie in itself doesn’t hit all of the points that past DreamWorks movies have hit. Though the film is original, it lacks anything parents and adults might find interesting. Animated movies are not only seen by children but adults as well, and when the adults aren’t as interested as the kids are, then they are less likely to take their kids to the movie.
Though this movie is bright and colorful and has a lot of cute characters and jokes, the story falls flat just from how simplistic it is.
“Home” is a decent movie for young children and can keep them entertained for its hour and a half run-time. However, if you are an adult who doesn’t like a lack of plot, then this movie isn’t for you. This movie gets a 3/5.
