Certificate U.

89 mins.

Animation/sci-fi.

Starring Rob Corddry, Brendan Fraser, Sofia Vergara, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jonathan Morgan Heit, William Shatner

SCORCH Supernova (voiced by Brendan Fraser) returns from a daredevil rescue assignment to a hero's welcome on his home planet Baab.

Locals whoop as Scorch stage-dives from the cargo doors of his spaceship, but Scorch's strait-laced older brother Gary (Rob Corddry), who works as a controller at Baab's space agency BASA, is unimpressed by the recklessness of his sibling. "You sit around here pushing buttons while I'm out there risking my neck!" angrily retorts Scorch.

The argument culminates in Gary quitting BASA just before Scorch ventures to the Dark Planet - Earth - and is captured by villainous General Shanker (William Shatner) and his men.

"We're his family. We need to go rescue him!" pleads Gary's son Kip (Jonathan Morgan Heit). Thus mild-mannered, scaredy alien Gary plays the hero for once, aided by new friends on the third rock from the sun including a mouse-like alien called Doc (Craig Robinson), a slug-type creature called Thurman (George Lopez) and one-eyed Io (Jane Lynch).

Escape From Planet Earth is an uninspired computer-animated adventure that never threatens to reach warp speed as Gary realises that true heroism is protecting the people you love.

The animation throughout is pristine, albeit lacking in personality, while vocal performances are solid, including Ricky Gervais as a sarcastic BASA computer.

Corddry essays a likable hero and Fraser purrs as the egotistical golden boy, who always has one eye on lucrative sponsorship deals. A bright colour palette and cute otherworldly characters should hold the interest of younger viewers while parents drift into hypersleep.