With a bunch of blue animated figures who might be confused with Smurfs*, the film offers enough entertainment for children and even laughter for parents. A strong cast and vivid animation help to offset* a thin story.

    The film opens by showing the heroic stature* of Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser) on his home planet of Baab. It takes 10 minutes for the main story to start.

    Scorch learns of a problem on the Dark Planet — that’s what Earth is called in the farther reaches of the galaxy* — and sets off to help.

    What he doesn’t know is that he’s being trapped by a power-mad general (William Shatner), who aims to* capture aliens* from different planets and use them for his own evil purposes.

    Scorch’s nerdy* brother Gary (Rob Corddry), who works at mission control on Baab, musters up his courage* to go on his first-ever dangerous adventure* and travels to Earth to free Scorch.

    From that point on, the plot is predictable*. Meanwhile, a traitorous* bigwig* on Baab (Jessica Alba), who is having a long-distance romance with the general, makes things more difficult for the brothers.

    A documentary shown to Scorch and Gary to explain the backward nature of life on Earth is a highlight, though the film should have tried to provide more of this social satire*.

    On Earth, Scorch and Gary meet other aliens, voiced by performers like Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson and George Lopez, with Steve Zahn and Chris Parnell providing more fun as a couple of trailer-park* workers eager to help the aliens.

    Visually the film offers modest if colorful pleasures. A couple of chase* sequences take advantage of the 3-D technology. (SD-Agencies)