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Terra-ble

Hollywood can't seem to scratch its itch for end-of-the-world movies. The latest addition to the exhausted genre is "Battle For Terra," another story of humans looking to save themselves at the expense of other species, in this case peace-loving aliens called Terrians. There's nothing remotely new about this film but it's been given the snazzy 3-D treatment to divert focus from its overall triteness.

"Battle For Terra" is director Aristomenis Tsirbas' full-feature spin on his 2003 short film "Terra," and he's taken equally hard-to-pronounce writer Evan Spiliotopoulos ("Jungle Book 2") along for the ride. The film is about a planet which is invaded by people after they find themselves on a spaceship with limited oxygen. Following the initial attacks, rebellious 16-year-old alien Mala (Evan Rachel Wood) revives a wounded human pilot named Jim (Luke Wilson) in hopes of tracking down her abducted father (Dennis Quaid), and an unlikely friendship ensues. Trouble is that Jim's boss at EarthForce is General Hemmer (Brian Cox), who could care less if the Terrians are a decent breed -- he wants them dead and their resources pillaged as soon as possible.

The whole thing is just kind of silly; there are moments it tries really hard to put on a serious face but instead plays like a third-rate MADtv parody about careless humans in space. Then there's the script, which is full of such fine pearls as "Earth has been destroyed, gone, we are the last survivors of humanity … the future depends on us!" -- yeesh. "Battle For Terra's" saving grace is its stunning 3-D effects, and although it's not exactly good for the eyes, putting on the dorky glasses and watching rockets seemingly shoot into the crowd has a certain thrill.

Still, in the realm of pro-peace, yay-environment animated films, it's like the first-pancake version of "Wall-E." There's a semi-surprising twist toward the end that seems gutsier than expected for a PG-animated flick, yet there's a whole lot of inane banter and boundless Us. Vs. Them themes to weed through before getting to that point. Like the cast of "The Hills," the film is visually pleasing but there's little to nothing going on beneath the surface.