Home (II) (2015)

Home (II) (2015)

Home is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated science-fiction buddy comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is loosely based on Adam Rex's 2007 children's book The True Meaning of Smekday and stars Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Steve Martin, Jennifer Lopez, and Matt Jones. Tim Johnson is the director of the film, Chris Jenkins and Suzanne Buirgy are its producers, and the screenplay is by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. The story takes place on planet Earth, where an alien race called the Boov invade the planet. However, a girl named Gratuity “Tip” Tucci manages to avoid capture, and goes on the run with Oh, a fugitive Boov (alien life).

The film was released in theaters on March 27, 2015 Home was promoted with the release of a four-minute short film titled Almost Home, which was shown in theaters before DreamWorks Animation's Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Blue Sky Studios' Rio 2 in 2014. It premiered at the Boulder International Film Festival on March 7, 2015. Besides lending her voice to the film, Rihanna also created a concept album of the same name. The soundtrack includes guest vocals from Jennifer Lopez, among others, was supported by two singles, "Towards the Sun" and "Feel the Light". Home has grossed $386 million worldwide.

Storyline

When Oh, a loveable misfit from another planet, lands on Earth and finds himself on the run from his own people, he forms an unlikely friendship with an adventurous girl named Tip who is on a quest of her own. Through a series of comic adventures with Tip, Oh comes to understand that being different and making mistakes is all part of being human. And while he changes her planet and she changes his world, they discover the true meaning of the word HOME.

Plot

On the run from their enemy, the planet-destroying Gorg, the Boov find Earth a suitable place to call "Home". Led by Captain Smek (Steve Martin), they commence their "friendly" invasion of the planet, relocating the humans, whom the Boov deem as simple and backwards, to other parts of the planet while the Boov inhabit their homes in a quick and bloodless conquest. One of the Boov, named Oh (Jim Parsons), is a more excited, freethinking member of the species, who decides to invite the Boov to his apartment for a housewarming party, despite the race's antipathy towards him. Not far from Oh is a preteen girl named Tip (Rihanna), who drives away through her home city to find her mother Lucy (Jennifer Lopez) after being separated from her during the invasion, leaving her with only her calico cat Pig and fueling her hatred for the Boov.

Oh runs into the street to meet up with a Boov cop named Kyle (Matt Jones), who, like the rest of the Boov, refuse to befriend him. Oh invites him to the party and decides to send a mass invite to every Boov on Earth. However, the "send all" button he pressed actually sends the invite to absolutely every alien race in the entire galaxy including the Gorg. Everyone, aggravated with Oh for revealing their location to the enemy, starts chasing him down. Oh runs into a convenience store to hide just as Tip and Pig enter the same store to grab supplies. They come across each other, and after Tip's car fails to start, Oh transforms it into a fantastical, hovering craft that literally runs on slushies and names it Slushious. Oh hitches a ride with Tip when he promises to help her find Lucy, but unfortunately, they must to go to the Boov Command Center in Paris and locate her from there.

After reaching the Boov Command Center, which is in the now-floating Eiffel Tower, Oh manages to get into his account, and deletes the message just a second before it reaches the Gorg. He then plugs in Tip's brain to help her find Lucy. They eventually trace her location to Australia, where she is also looking for her daughter. The other Boov then find the two and try to "erase" Oh, while Tip grabs the gravity manipulation system and flips it over, causing the whole Tower to tilt upside down.

As Oh and Tip head off to Australia, they see other Boov riding by them in fear, and realize that a Gorg ship is close behind them. Tip and Oh manage to knock it down, but in the process a chunk of it hits them and they lose their slushie fuel. They come across the fallen Gorg ship and find out that it is actually a drone. Oh recovers a special chip and uses it to get their car up and running.

Tip and Oh make it to Australia and see the Boov evacuating to their mothership. When they land the car, Tip starts to run for her mother, but Oh insists on evacuating with the other Boov instead. Tip gets angry at him for trying to break the promise again, and she declares that they were never friends. Heartbroken, Oh returns to the ship. The Gorg mothership comes close to the Boov ship, but Oh pulls out the Gorg chip and uses it to fly the ship further away from the Gorg. The Boov become astonished at Oh's plan. Smek becomes upset and reminds everyone that he is the captain. Kyle grabs Smek's "shusher" (a scepter with a rock on top of it) and gives it to Oh, declaring him the new captain.

Tip rushes aimlessly around the city to find Lucy, but no one can help her. Oh returns to her side and helps her track down Lucy. The mother and daughter finally reunite and thank Oh. The Gorg mothership descends upon the planet, and Oh realizes that they want the rock on the shusher, since Smek had previously stolen it from them. Oh runs to the ship to try and get its attention, locking Tip and Lucy in the car for safety. Tip breaks out of the car and shines a light in the Gorg Commander's face to bring his attention to Oh as he holds the rock up. The Gorg Commander (Brian Stepanek) halts the ship as it crunches down on the ground, with Oh in its path. Tip rushes to rescue him, but Oh gets seemingly crushed beneath the machine. It backs up and Oh is revealed to be unharmed. The Gorg Commander emerges from his armor to show that he is actually a harmless starfish-like creature. Oh returns the rock to him, which turns out to contain millions of developing Gorg larvae; the next generation of Gorg, revealing that this Gorg is the last of his kind. He thanks Oh and eventually departs.

Two weeks later, the humans have returned to their original homes, and Oh finally gets to have his party at his apartment, with humans and Boov in attendance. Tip plays her music and gets the rest of the Boov to experience dancing for the first time, while other Boov, including a reformed Smek, party on the moon, and thousands of ships from other planets, including the Gorg, head to Earth for Oh's party upon receiving his invite.

Voice Cast

• Jim Parsons as Oh, a Boov.
• Rihanna as Gratuity "Tip" Tucci, a teenage girl who befriends Oh.
• Steve Martin as Captain Smek, the leader of the Boov race.
• Jennifer Lopez as Lucy Tucci, Tip's mother.
• Matt Jones as Kyle, a Boov police officer.
• Brian Stepanek as Gorg Commander, the leader of the Gorg.
• April Lawrence as Boov Announcer
• The Boovs are voiced by Stephen Kearin, Brian Stepanek, Lisa Stewart, and April Winchell.

User Review

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I'm surprised at how well "Home" as done at the box office. It's made a lot of money but this is not a picture everyone will like but if you keep an open mind it's really a cute and entertaining take on alien attack thrillers.

It's about a group of cowardly outer space blobs called Boov's who invade Earth and kick all humans to the curb. One of the Boov's, Oh (Jim Parsons), is a sweet natured but lonely fugitive who gets himself into accidental trouble when he attempts to send out an invitation via email for a party that alert their enemy, the Gorg, to their presence. Meanwhile, a little orphan girl, Tip (Rihanna) is desperately trying to find her mother, Lucy (Jennifer Lopez) who was taken by the Boov when they invaded earth. When Tip crosses paths with the hiding Boov, he attempts to help her find her mother and stop the impending doom from the Gorg.

The unfortunate fact is that we live in an age where cheap 3D glasses are a necessity to watch certain movies and this just happens to be one of them. The problem is that the 3D does absolutely nothing for the movie, instead it steals your extra dollars. I don't know how 3D has managed to last this long. People give into the cause and it fuels the need because we're made to feel like there is no alternative. If 3D were real that would be a different story. Instead the Boov's just look closer to your face as does the entire film.

At least some artists still draw and this film clearly shows that. The animation is some of the best I have seen in a long time. One of my favourite Disney films was 2002's "Lilo & Stitch" and this film reminder me a lot of that. The Boov was colourfully drawn and the animation gives them an edge: whenever their mod changes, the change different colours. Colourful animation shows their home planet and an animated-looking France when they have a humorous spill over the Eiffel tower.

Mind you some of the humour is to be expected for a kind picture such as this. There is a sequence where the Boov alien walks into a bathroom and out of curiosity, nibbles on a urinal cake to disgust. But the thing I found most humorous was when Oh rigs up Tip's damaged car with slushy machines to provide fuel and he turns it into a hoover car. One would think this is cute but kind of stupid at the same time since were thinking "slushy machines", however, this is a kids movie so suspend disbelief.

Now the problem I had with the picture was the enemy, the Gorg. They look like something out of a science-fiction horror movie and it seems a little too dark for kids. They have long spikes sticking of their metal bodies and roar loud noises. There is a surprise with the Gorg leader that is heartfelt but it doesn't change the fact that these monsters are out to destroy these cowardly aliens. We find out why but it kind of feels cheap because of a character's actions.

Kids will like this picture, parents might fall asleep but there is a theme to the film and that is family and friends. Oh I almost forgot about Tip's pet cat, Pig, this little dork sits in the background and meows for most of the movie but he is a funny sidekick that is sure to make a lot of kids smile.