I'll be honest, when I sat down to watch "Battle for Terra" I wasn't expecting too much. I thought this movie would be just another cookie-cutter 3d animated movie aimed at kids with a tad bit of humour for the adults thrown in to make it mildly entertaining for them as well. I am happy to admit I was wrong.I don't want to give too much away as I feel a review should just provide an opinion on whether or not a film is worth seeing and not spoil the entire movie in the process, so I'll speak as generally as possible. The movie starts out just like any other kids flick, the alien characters are cute looking, the human characters are cartoony and the spaceships are cool. However, as the story progress it gets darker in tone and takes on a lot of deeper issues that one doesn't expect to see from a North American animation production. Both the "good guys" and "bad guys" in the movie aren't all good or all bad, the story takes the time to show the perspective of both sides and relate the opposing sides to one another. The story also doesn't shy away from the consequences of actions that occur during the movie, people and aliens alike get hurt in the movie and they bleed. Also both aliens and humans actually die on screen in this movie...the deaths aren't bloody but they actually do occur for us to see, especially once the main battle takes place during the movie. That's not to say there aren't positive moral ideals being preached in the film like most kids films as there are (living with the nature, respecting life, working together, showing compassion, etc.).
Most kids flicks or North American animations lately just show a ship blow up and people eject safely in a parachute or somebody die off screen. Not in this film, you see the consequences of fighting and the consequences of other hard decisions the characters are forced to make as the story progresses. And its this adult tone injected in this film that elevate it above the numerous other 3d animated offerings being churned out of Hollywood lately and make it well worth watching. I'm glad I did.
IMDB: 7.1/10
