Terra

CG has come a long way. Terra was produced in a couple years with a budget 1/10th that of the usual Pixar or Dreamworks presentation, but it looks just as beautiful. That, along with a star-filled vocal cast and a workable sci-fi story make this a fun little picture.

The alien planet is extremely beautiful, with statuesque trees piercing a planet-wide fog, and weird sky-whales and other critters darting about. The aliens themselves are fantastic, and you can easily see that a lot of effort went into their movements and facial expressions. The humans are unfortunately a bit stilted and rubbery, but their environment makes up for it.

It's extremely difficult to do a kids sci-fi movie that isn't just a rehash of something out of the 60s. There's less space for character development, and the more convoluted the plot, the less likely you'll be able to convince people that kids will sit through it. Terra has skirted this problem nicely by combining two relatively simple premises into a story that really works. It's not Shakespeare, but it's entertaining.

I mentioned the cast, and the voice acting is certainly well done. Amanda Peet and Luke Wilson fit well in their roles, and the bit parts are filled with voices that at least don't stand out against the leads. The highlight has to be David Cross as a snarky robotic helper. Every sci-fi movie should be so lucky.