Battle for Terra 3D

This is the third recent movie after ‘Planet 51’ and ‘Avatar’ to riff on the rights and wrongs of man’s attempted takeover of an alien planet. While James Cameron’s Pandora is all Roger Dean and ‘FernGully’ green, the planet in this animation is a fertile mix of earthy browns, weirdly sculptured constructions and beautiful, hand-carved flying objects. With Earth destroyed by who knows what, the last humans are on course for Terra and its population of affable aliens. As in ‘Avatar’, echoes of African, American and Indian colonisation ring in the ears as man prepares to invade – but their plans might be scuppered by one of their own number… The product of a truly fertile imagination, Terra is gorgeously rendered and even a little reminiscent of the fantastical ‘Baron Munchausen’. But it’s the thought-provoking storyline, the dialogue and the voices (especially that of Evan Rachel Wood) that leave a lasting impression. A few hiccups here and there, but in the main this under-the-radar effort pulls out all the stops.