I reviewed Battle for Terra back at Fantastic Fest, when it wasn't yet in 3D and called Terra. The reviews and flat dismissals I've seen around the web for this movie are interesting in that they're all written by adults acting like this movie was made with them in mind.
Battle for Terra, by all predictions, stood to be completely slaughtered this weekend, but hopefully it'll see an uptick or some sustained business with families who've already seen Monster vs. Aliens until UP takes all its screens at the end of the month. For those with kids, I really think it's more worthy of your time than MvA and the wide swath of not-so-great choices moms and dads are usually stuck with. It's the type of movie that an eight year old will wear out on DVD and recall fondly in their adult life as something they loved when they were a kid, simplicity be damned. On a side note, I find it interesting that the Romulan ship in Star Trek (5/8) and the enemy ship here share more than a passing resemblance in design and "drill" weapon.
As I said back in September:
"I know people who just dismissed it from their must-see list or saw it and said "meh", falling back on something to the tune of "it didn't knock my socks off or anything". Does it blow the doors off of the CG or scifi genres? Honestly it doesn't, and I really don't think they were aiming to. They were going to tell a story that could really only be told this way independently. As expensive as I'm sure non-studio CG animation must be, it'd be nothing compared to trying to make this thing live-action.
"Terra takes place on and around a distant planet to Earth and features an alien people who "swim" around through the air, hovering over the ground, but who are also fascinated with flying machines. They seem to have strict controls on technological development, for unclear reasons at first.
"Humans come into the picture at one point, and my wife commented it was an interesting companion piece to WALL-E thanks to thematic similarities involving mankind forced into outer space as a result of making Earth uninhabitable.
"There are spaceship laser battle sequences, and the influences of many other science fiction films is present, from Star Wars to Independence Day, but never to the point of ripping anyone else off. Others may make that allegation, but the closest you see to them ripping off ID4 is the fact there's a Quaid in the voice cast.
"What I like most is that it does its own thing without trying to be the writer or director's "version" of someone else's vision. I dare say Terra does the spirit of Star Wars better than Star Wars has done in some time. It keeps the themes and plot progression simple. It is absolutely family-friendly and has a "don't just do as you're told when it feels wrong" message that has been missing from so many animated features aimed square at kids for so long. Then again, it has been in some of them, but it's aimed more at "be rebellious and stupid" instead of "do the right thing."