Home

“Home” is an animated movie with a wild story about an alien species known as the Boov who move from planet to planet to escape their enemies, the Gorg aliens. The movie opens as the Boov arrive at their latest planet, Earth, and transport humans to Australia. A teenager girl, Tip (Rihanna), avoids being relocated. One particular Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons) is wanted by the Boov authorities due to an email blunder that revealed the Boov’s new location to the Gorg. Oh encounters Tip while he is on the run, and he agrees to help her find her mother in Australia, but that mission is complicated by encounters with police and the risk of Gorg invasion.

I found this to be an entertaining movie with dialog that is amusing, even though it is often silly, and the visual detail is impressive. There are also positive messages involving the importance of family and willingness to question conventional approaches and take risks. The Boov have a practice of never attempting something if their calculated chance of success is less than fifty percent, regardless of the risk/reward ratio or consequences of not taking action. Oh eventually learns that taking greater risks can be rewarding, which works fine in the scope of the movie. However, in real life people can become reckless and take major, unnecessary risks for a potentially large reward. If I were to expand Home’s message into a Christian-themed lesson, I would include discussion of faith and Biblical consideration of motives when going against the odds.

As for my overall opinion of “Home,” I think this is a good movie that is probably clean enough for most families to accept, and kids will enjoy the humor and action. Older children and adults, if they like animated comedy or adventure movies, will probably find this entertaining, as well. One thing I can say is that if you watch this movie, there is one scene that you will remember every time you see the Eiffel Tower!

Objectionable Content

Sexual Content: A male Boov is dressed in a girly outfit at a party. There is also a Boov shaking his posterior while dancing.

Violence: There are several scenes of spacecraft chases, sometimes involving destruction of buildings. A Boov is often seen running away from the police, and once he attacks a police officer in a food fight. The enemy alien character, present in several scenes, wears slightly scary-looking armor. A girl almost gets hit with a very sharp object. There is also the usual scene near the end where it looks like a main character has fallen to his death, but he resurfaces. Also, the main character is repeatedly threatened by the police of being “erased,” although that punishment is not defined.

Language: Someone says “curse you,” and a character is called an idiot.

Other: There is some bathroom humor, and a few instances of lying or promise-breaking. The main character plays a gambling machine on one occasion.

Violence: Mild to moderate / Profanity: None / Sex/Nudity: Minor

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
• Young people
• Non-viewer comments