When a diminutive blue alien named Oh unceremoniously drops onto planet Earth, all sorts of mayhem occurs in the delightful new animated cartoon movie, “Home.”
Voiced by Jim Parsons from TV’s “The Big Bang Theory,” Home’s Oh is very much like Stitch from “Lilo and Stitch,” finding himself as the preverbal “fish out of water” completely confused and on the run from his own people, the Boov who conquered the Earth and relocated all of us to another world. Oh lands on terra firma, makes immediate friends with an adventurous 20-something named Tip (voiced by Rihanna) who just happens to be left behind.
”Home” is a great pre-summer movie, vibrant and alive with color and fun and coming from the creators of “How to Train Your Dragon.” With a souped up mini-car that our trusty little alien Oh throws some anti-gravity super speed onto, the duo, with Tip’s pet fat cat named “Pig” along for the aerial acrobatics, Home is a worldwide adventure, zipping from one corner of the globe to another.
Unlike “Lilo and Stitch” where nearly all of the adventure takes place in and around the Hawaiian Islands, the premise of Home is to get out there and “move-it, move-it.”
Even with its short running time of a mere 94 minutes, you too will fall in love with the multi-legged Oh, much as you would a golden retriever puppy who may have just gone “do do” on your best carpet but in truth how in the world could you get mad at “that face”? The same holds with Oh, who is so adorable, how could you ever think of being upset, although he just slapped the Eiffel Tower with an anti-gravity bubble that has it floating around the City of Light like a billiard ball?
Rihanna’s voice acting is spot on and although we all know she just recorded her lines inside a sound-proof room more than one year ago, you wouldn’t really know it.
Another reason to pluck down your pesos for this movie is to just once again hear the voice of Steve Martin who hasn’t seen screen time since his “Pink Panther” movies but hearing his high pitched vocal range as the alien Captain Smel, makes all of the mayhem created by Oh seem worthwhile. The Boov are somewhat singular creatures and Oh is not like his comrades; craving friendship and fun.
As the initial distrust between Oh and Tip fades, the pair set out together to find Tip’s mother (Jennifer Lopez), but, unbeknown to them, the Gorg—enemies of the Boov–are enroute to the Earth.
“Home” is helmed by Tim Johnson who certainly is not a household name but has let loose with some great animated winners for the producers of “Home,” DreamWorks Animation Studios, including “Over the Hedge” in 2006 and “ANTZ” in 1998.
What you too will take away from watching “Home” is that, heck everyone makes mistakes, sometimes we all forget to throw away our rubbish before leaving the theater and some of us just nuke a planet by mistake.
What can we do?
“Home” has a primary voice cast with just five people. That’s right. Only five actors are credited in the movie with the remaining thousands of Boov filled in by computer creations.
You too will find a way to love “Home.”
“Home” is an adventure that the kids will enjoy and is bright, colorful and just plain fun for the entire family.
Questions, comments or travel suggestions, write me at theruffolos@readingruffolos.com
