“Luis and the Aliens” Review

I spent 82 minutes of my time watching “Luis and the Aliens: Extraterrestrial. Extra Trouble.” It was written and directed by Academy Award winners Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein. The movie has a couple of acclaimed voice actors as well. Will Forte who is known best for his role in “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” as Chester V, voiced Nag, one of the three main aliens. Lea Thompson, who is well-known for her role as Lorraine Baines-McFly in “Back to the Future,” voiced Ms. Diekendaker, the creepy Headmistress of Sunny Days Home for Neglected Children.

It follows Luis, a 12-year-old boy who is having a tough time with bullies, a girl, and his at-home life. His dad, Armin Sonntag, has a career in ufology because of a sighting of an alien when he was young. It takes up most of his time and attention, leaving Luis lonely and neglected. At some point in the past, Luis’ mother passed away and Luis took on the chores of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of his father. This annoys his wealthy neighbors, whose son happens to be his school bully, and they call child protection services. Ms. Diekendaker, the headmistress of a boarding school, wants to visit Mr. Sonntag and Luis. She requests to see Luis’ living conditions and to take Luis to her school called Sunny Days Home for Neglected Children. 

Then the plot focussed on an alien species called Whoopies. Nag, Wabo, and Mog are friends on the space cruise ship for vacation. While on their vacation trip they pass Earth, or as they called it, Planet P.U. 1753-L, and happen to intercept a television channel promoting a NubbiDubbi. NubbiDubbis are purple lumpy and curvy mattresses that also acted as a sort of massage chair. Immediately fascinated, Nag, Wabo, and Mog decided they absolutely needed one and stole a small ship and stopped by Earth to get a NubbiDubbi. 

Because of Mr. Sonntag’s extensive alien detection devices, Luis is quickly alerted of their presence and they realize they can help each other. They go on a long adventure together to try to get a NubbiDubbi and put a stop to Ms. Diekendaker’s attempts to take Luis from his father. In the end, I suppose everyone got what they wanted and it was a happy outcome. 

I found the animation off-putting, it reminds me of “Freddy Frogface” animation but with bigger eyes. Overall it was a goofy movie with a definite plot twist at the end. I will most likely not watch it again, but would recommend it for a younger audience, ranging from ages 5-7.