Last year, a short entitled Almost Home featured an alien race called the Boov and their attempts to find a new home after fleeing the evil Gorg. After a series of interplanetary mishaps, the short ended with them arriving at Earth.
In Home, the Boov invade and relocate all humans to Australia where they live in quaint little houses and, apparently, are fed and clothed but otherwise ignored (a Boov theme park has been assembled to keep them amused). Through a fluke, Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci is missed in the planet-wide relocation project and she and her cat, Pig, set out in the family’s battered car to find her mother. She encounters Oh, the architect of the interplanetary mishaps mentioned above and things get even weirder from there.
There’s nothing particularly original about Home – an alien and kid wind up helping each other a la E.T., Lil & Stitch, Echo & Me and the like – but the design of the alien Boov is fun and their method of emphasizing their emotional state by changing colors is a little different.
Tip (Rihanna) is a smart, capable kid who teaches Oh (Jim Parsons) that humans are not the simple creatures his races leader Captain Smek (Steve Martin) has led them to believe. After a tentative start – and genuinely witty introductions of Oh dance and pets (teased in the trailers) – the two make a pretty good team.
Together they attempt to find Tip mom and Oh discovers that only he can thwart an impending reappearance of the Gorg. Really, there’s not much more to the movie, but between Oh’s peculiar version of English, some spiffy sight gags and more than a little culture clash, Home managed to sneak up on me.
Home might not be the equal of DreamWorks Animation’s best franchises (Kung Fu Panda, How To Train Your Dragon, Madagascar), but it is engaging in large part due to the blossoming Tip/Oh friendship and the dry delivery of Parsons and Martin.
The 3D is pretty good, too, but not essential to enjoying the movie. See it in 2D and have a good time without the added expense.
Final Grade: B