Battle for Terra

Brian Cox, Luke Wilson, Evan Rachel Wood and David Cross lend their voices to a CG-animated clash of civilizations. It’s like Planet of the Apes, but more Planet of the Cute Saucer-Eyed Floaty Tadpole People. Who, by the way, are pretty much minding their own business, living peaceably and harmoniously (and of course cutely) among the treetops of their world, floating with the sky-whales and generally celebrating life, when one day an army of refugees from a war-ravaged Earth parks its run-down mothership in low orbit and comes a-conquerin’. Director Aristomenis Tsirbas, co-writing with Evan Spiliotopoulos, can’t be accused of excessive finesse in matters of story, yet Battle for Terra’s knack for atmosphere and architecture goes a long way toward mitigating the persistent artificiality of computer animation.