Movie Review: Fly Me to the Moon

Three houseflies hop a ride aboard the Apollo 11 spaceship on its mission to the moon

GENRE: Animated comedy adventure

RELEASE DATE: August 15, 2008

RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes

VIOLENCE FACTOR: No violence

RACY? No

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW: The first animated feature created exclusively for the 3-D process

GRANDS:

Oh, to be a fly on the wall. Or three of them. Oh, wait, that's exactly what they are. And the wall they're on is in a spacecraft on its way to the moon. They're the triumvirate of winged protagonists in Fly Me to the Moon, an animated adventure about 1969's Apollo 11 space mission.

Meet Nat (Trevor Gagnon), I.Q. (Philip Bolden), and Scooter (David Gore), junkyard houseflies, who are bored with their lot in life. They seek adventure, so they stow away aboard the spacecraft, which is launching from nearby Cape Canaveral. This also just happens to be the journey of the very first moon landing.

As if space travel isn't dangerous enough, there are a few sabotage-minded Russian insects buzzing around (remember, this is 1969), who don't wish our heroes well. Simplistic, wholesome, and colorful, this one is for the very young grandchildren, certainly an underserved theatrical movie audience. But to see the movie, they're going to need 3-D glasses, which they'll receive along with their ticket. And these are a marked improvement — in comfort, visual clarity, and dynamism of the 3-D process — over the goofy red-and-blue-plastic specs of their grandparents' era.

Fly Me to the Moon is the first feature-length animated film created expressly for the 3-D format. Director Ben Stassen abandoned any narrative ambition to top Lord of the Flies. Instead, he just makes sure to keep creating moments that showcase the technology — yep, it's one small step for 3-D, no giant leap for animation.

Grown-up veterans of TV: Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, Kelly Ripa, Ed Begley, Jr, Nicollette Sheridan, Robert Patrick, and Adrienne Barbeau, support the three youngsters in the lead roles. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin — who was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11 — makes a cameo appearance as himself.

If Space Chimps left its young audience wanting more in the way of animated space travel, well, then Fly Me to the Moon will suffice: It's no better and no worse, plus it's got the all-important 3-D gimmick for your grandkids.

Hey, at least time's fun when they're having flies.

GP Rating System:
Four Grands = Bravo, don't miss it
Three Grands = Pretty good, short list it
Two Grands = Just okay, don't dismiss it
One Grand = Yeah, we dissed it