Fly Me To The Moon

Apollo 11 on Noggin

Grade: C -
Director: Ben Stassen
Starring: Christopher Lloyd, David Gore, Trevor Gagnon, Philip Bolden, Tim Curry, Robert Patrick, Kelly Ripa, Nicolette Sheridan, and Adrienne Barbeau
MPAA Rating: G
Running Time: 1 hour, 24 minutes

In Fly Me To The Moon, a trio of adventure-seeking, teen houseflies hitch a ride aboard Apollo 11. Strictly – and I do mean strictly – tolerable for the 3D visuals and animated renderings of outer space and moonscapes, the rest of the throwaway plot is no more sophisticated than an episode of The Backyardigans. And, whose idea was it to dust off an antagonist 20 years past its expiration date in the form of resentful Soviet bugs – who look like creatures lifted from a Lamisil commercial, with one voiced by Tim Curry, for Pete’s sake – trying to sabotage the return journey back to Earth?

The contrast between an earnest celebration of real-life heroism and an infantile storyline is jarring and disconcerting, much like the realization that Christopher Lloyd, Adrienne Barbeau, Nicolette Sheridan, and Kelly Ripa are the “celebrity” contributors to this gleaming hunk of space junk

Neil Morris