Battle for Terra First Look

Humans are the enemy in Battle for Terra, a new animated feature from Roadside Attractions. Sporting a pretty formidable voice cast, which includes Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, Evan Rachel Wood and Luke Wilson, this 3-D scifi film looks like it’s straddling the line between a children’s movie and more adult fare.

The story revolves around two alien teenagers, Senn (Justin Long) and Mala (Wood), who live on the planet Terra.  Terra is one of those dream-come-true alien planets where everyone lives in harmony and it’s all fun and flowers. . . that is until the humans show up. Looks like we are in the process of destroying Earth with an environmental catastrophe heaped on top of a civil war. So what do we do? We find another planet that can be molded to suit human life, even if it means killing all of the life currently living on that floating rock in space.

Yep, that sounds like the human race I know and love.

As the Battle for Terra begins, Mala befriends an injured human pilot (Wilson) and guess what? They discover that their two races are not so different at all – perhaps they can intervene and find a peaceful solution that will allow both humans and aliens to live in harmony.

Okay, so I’m a little cynical when it comes to stories such as these, but I have to give it up to the animators who created this charming piece. And if you think the still shots and the trailer (which you can see at the official website) are nice, just wait until you see this thing in 3-D on the big screen.

Battle for Terra opens in theaters on May 1st.

Photos courtesy of Roadside Attractions