By Juliana Riverin
Staff Writer
There’s no place like home, and there’s no movie like it, either. “Home” proves to be an original adventure, despite the resemblance to “Lilo and Stitch” and an ill-fitting score. “Home” is perfect for anyone who enjoys adorable, funny characters and heartwarming, familial love.
“Home” is an animated film that follows the road trip of a young girl named Tip (Rihanna) and an alien named O (Jim Parsons). After an alien race known as the Boove takes over Earth, 15-year old Tip is left with nothing but her cat, her car and the desire to find her mother, who was relocated during the invasion.
While trying to avoid detection by the Boove, she meets O, an alien outcast also looking to get away. Together, they embark on a journey to find Tip’s mother and save the planet from yet another set of invaders.
Tip and O’s straightforward character development aside, “Home” feels like a constantly fresh film. Through the use of original dialogue and a changing setting, “Home” creates a seemingly brand new premise.
The innocent vocabulary used by the Boove and the galactic road trip setting set the film apart from others. Using lines such as, “What is the purpose of your face?” to mean “what’s wrong” provide both humor and originality.
Furthermore, the animation goes a long way toward establishing “Home” as original. The frequent use of bright colors and uniquely shaped characters is not only eye-catching but also spreads a sense of lively fun throughout the film.
The undercurrent of normalcy in “Home” furthers the perceived freshness of the film. Tip is a normal girl who moved to the United States from Barbados and just wants to find her mom, as opposed to typical fairytale characters in most films.
This lets viewers from all walks of life relate to the movie and grounds the more outlandish facets of the film since Tip could easily fit into everyday life.
Despite the originality of the outer-space road trip premise, the simple fact remains that “Home” is a children’s movie and therefore is largely predictable.
While this is not necessarily bad, the film’s emotional scenes are undercut by the knowledge that there’s no way that the movie will have a dark ending.
Additionally, “Home” follows the standard animated friendship arc. It starts with a cautious alliance, then budding affection and eventual trust, before leading to inevitable conflict.
As a result, many moments in the film feel unnecessary. For example, the drawn-out suspicion between Tip and O gets tedious because it is very obvious that they will end up as friends.
The only major flaw of the film is Rihanna’s score. Quite frankly, the soundtrack does not fit with the tone throughout most of the film. The use of pop music during some of the most touching moments severely undermines the emotional effectiveness of the scene and distracts from the central theme of the film.
Despite these problems, “Home” remains a heartwarming, family-friendly adventure that is guaranteed to entertain and charm its audiences.
“Home” is rated PG and is now in theaters.
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