'Home' Movie Review

— -- With Voices By Rihanna, Steve Martin and Jim Parsons

Rated PG

Three-and-a-half out of five stars

Dreamworks’ newest animated feature, "Home," isn’t exactly a world-beater, but it is does revolve around a world invasion. Our world, to be exact.

The Boov are intergalactic nomads, who look like the Scrubbing Bubbles and "Despicable Me"’s Minions procreated. They speak English but the way in which they arrange their sentences is ridiculous. The silly Boov leader, Captain Smek, voiced by Steve Martin, is great at one thing: running away! When we first meet him, the Boov are running away from their mortal enemy -- to Earth, a planet they’ll take over by moving all humans to Australia.

One Boov in particular is excited about their new beginning. That’s Oh, voiced by Jim Parsons, whose voice is perfect for any animated character. Oh’s issue is the rest of the Boov don’t like him, but because e’s blissfully unaware of how he’s perceived, he continues to try to ingratiate himself to the rest of the Boov. Then he makes a major mistake that could put every Boov in peril, and finds himself on the run.

That’s when he meets a young girl named Tip, who has a lovely singing voice. OK, we don’t really hear her sing, but because her voice is supplied by Rihanna, let’s just assume she sings like Rihanna. Tip agrees to help hide Oh, and Oh agrees to help Tip find her mother.

Tip is a strong, young, intelligent female character. Making her even more compelling and important is she’s black. I don’t think I need to tell you about the lack of young, black female characters in animated movies, because there pretty much are none.

Your kids will likely enjoy "Home" from beginning to end. For adults, however, "Home" feels like two different movies. The first 45 minutes are almost intolerable: the writing isn’t particularly strong, and the story isn’t particularly compelling. It’s annoying, and the chemistry between Tip and Oh is awful. You stick with it, though, because there’s something inherently good about both characters.

Thankfully, your patience is rewarded. The second half of "Home" works with a solid and emotionally satisfying ending. If only the whole movie were that way.