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'Fly Me to the Moon' is a cute and immersive 3-D experience; probably the best use yet of this once gimmicky format, which was pioneered decades ago to wow viewers with those flimsy little glasses that I once discovered at the bottom of a cereal box, highly touted as an innovation, or what passed as innovation in the 1980s. It has advanced considerably since then; recently implemented in Journey to the Center of the Earth. This film is rendered exclusively in 3-D, and the effects are often astonishing. The animation is impressively detailed, and imaginatively constructed. The story centers on three flies who board the Apollo 11 mission, which carries Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins into space, where they will carry out their historic moon landing. The flies are named Nat (without a G, which would indicate an entirely different species of insect), IQ (because he is smart), and Scooter, who has an iron stomach and insatiable appetite. Nat (Trevor Gagnon) is the leader of the group, a courageous and ambitious dreamer fascinated by the tales of his grandfather, Amos (Christopher Lloyd), who flew with famous aviator Amelia Earheart. Nat wants to follow in Amos's footsteps, go on a thrilling adventure, explore what lies beyond the boundaries of the earth, and maybe become famous himself, at least within the fly community. His mother (Kelly Ripa) worries about him, but Amos's confidence in Nat never wavers. IQ (Philip Bolden) is there to figure stuff out, interacting with gadgets and offering solutions to any crises that may develop, and some are sure to, since humans almost instinctively respond to the presence of flies by swatting them. Scooter (David Gore) is the primary source of humor, a lovable goofball who could provide a lot of belch and fart jokes, but is thankfully not forced to. Kids could learn something about American history, whether about Earheart (though her mysterious disappearance/death is understandably not discussed), or about the US space program, and the Apollo mission itself, which is portrayed rather accurately; the script, from Dominic Paris, is based on actual NASA transcripts, and we hear Armstrong utter his immortal words. It convincingly captures and expresses the awesome wonder of it all. Nat, IQ, and Scooter witness the landing from inside the astronauts' helmets. It should be noted that the flies do not really look much like flies; I would guess because flies are not attractive creatures, and have a nasty reputation for being dirty and seeking refuge in unsanitary environments. I doubt you have seen maggots this adorable. Also, flies have an extremely short natural lifespan, which is brazenly ignored here, so as not to upset the children who would otherwise be enthralled by this. There is a meaningless subplot involving Yegor (Tim Curry), a Russian operative seeking to sabotage the mission as it returns home. Curry offers some delicious voice work, but his character exists only to provide some superfluous antagonism. Contained within the context of the depicted time frame, the Cold War was still being waged, and the Soviet Union was the bitter enemy of the United States, though the irrational fear of Communist infiltration and subversion had died out, following the death of Joseph McCarthy and the subsequent realization that he was full of sh*t. The Soviets had preceded the Americans into space, with Yuri Gagarin and the Sputnik satellite, but the Americans would overcome that technological disadvantage and develop rockets and shuttles more advanced than any that had been seen before, ones capable of traveling further into space, visiting other planets, like Mars and venturing even into the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. There is, I think, a mean-spirited message here, that could damage the already low self-esteem of obese and self-conscious children; through Scooter, the movie seems to harp on the dangers of being overweight, ridiculing those who are overweight and pretending as if it is not difficult at all to lose weight and conform to accepted standards of physical appearance. That Scooter would do well to adopt better and healthier eating habits is not improper, but to address the issue constantly is akin to bullying and harassment. This is something I found unwholesome in a film that is otherwise perfectly suitable, G-rated entertainment for kids and their parents. email this review to a friend
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