Fly Me To The Moon

This is a movie for the young folk. The plot of Fly Me to the Moon incorporates the true story of Apollo 11 as a backdrop for this story about three young houseflies that want to go to the moon. So of course they just hitch a ride on Apollo 11, all the way to the moon and back, returning to an insect tickertape parade. The movie is billed as being the "first ever animated movie created for 3D", and I would take that with a big pinch of salt.

The movie was directed by Ben Stassen, who has made 3D movies in the past (though I haven't seen any of them). The voice talent used included Tim Curry, Ed Begley Jr, Adrienne Barbeau, Robert Patrick and Buzz Aldrin appears at the conclusion of the film as himself. None of the voice talent made a big impression on me, though it didn't really detract. I just heard Ed Begley Jr. in a radio "Twilight Zone" one spooky night not too long ago, and he really didn't register there either. It wasn't all that spooky.

Fly Me to the Moon has a really weird vibe. It starts off pleasantly enough introducing us to the main characters, but as the film progresses it feels more like propaganda produced by NASA than anything (including the Buzz Aldrin ending), and it gets boring . The character animation is not particularly engaging and soon becomes dull (as does the whole movie). The characters are not sketched out that particularly well, the jokes are lame, and the dialogue has no sparkle. They should have just cast the whole movie with the Pillsbury Dough Boy. This is a really boring movie. The movie might be good for a really young viewer, maybe seven or eight years old or younger, but I wanted to drive needles into my eyes by the end of the movie. Fly Me to the Moon feels like it was written in the late 60s and has been in mothballs ever since. It feels like it has come to us from another time and era. I think kids need good movies just like adults do, but there is no rule that you can't make a movie that appeals to both (Toy Story immediately comes to mind). The first rule is to have interesting characters, and because of the animation and script, Fly Me to the Moon fails on both counts.

To give credit where credit is due, the 3D part of the movie is excellent. The 3D effects are particularly well done, and if you like that kind of thing, you might still want to check this out. I honestly could watch this movie just for the 3D aspect. The 3D effects do not save the movie though, this is one for the kiddos. I will take Fleishcer's "Dancing on the Moon" over this, and you can whistle it as well.

You can write to James Harper at movielover77061@yahoo.com