While the animation is absolutely gorgeous, combining traditional hand-drawn art with computer wizardry, the production as a whole is slightly over-obsessed with wacky creatures and gadgets. This might not be a problem if there was more depth to the story, but the look of the film and the extra gizmos in it become everything here. It's obviously aimed squarely at young boys, with the central male narrative as well as lots of mild gross-out humour (one crew member is from the planet Flatula and speaks only in a series of ... yes, you get the idea). There are also not one but three comic-relief characters on hand. And the characters are as simple as the story; most seem only half-formed no matter how great they look. Doppler and Amelia are cleverly drawn as a dog-like man and a cat-like woman, and Hyde Pierce and Thompson make the most of this with their vocal work, but the script itself never goes anywhere with the idea. Fortunately though, the plot is so action packed that we hardly notice its thinness. Each scene looks wonderful, and the action is energetic and exciting enough to keep us hooked. Forget where it came from and it's not half bad.