I think Fly Me to the Moon pretty much affirms 3-D's status as mere gimmickery. Filmmakers and critics alike may be calling 3-D the wave of the future, but aside from a very select few cases, I don't know any movie that's actually been enhanced by this technique. Most of the time, it comes across as a cheap way of masking a severely lacking story or script, and nowhere is that more true than with this lame animated feature. I think even some children will see through Fly Me to the Moon as a grab at their parents' hard-earned cash.

The year is 1969, and young Nat (voice of Trevor Gagnon) is a little fly with big dreams. Having grown up with the Kennedy Space Center as a neighbor, Nat has spent his life wishing her could join the astronauts on their voyages to outer space. But one day, inspired by his adventurous grandpa (voice of Christopher Lloyd), Nat goes about fulfilling his dreams once and for all. Accompanied by his best friends, egghead I.Q. (voice of Philip Bolden) and pudgy Scooter (voice of David Gore), our hero decides to hitch a ride with the Apollo 11 crew and be there as mankind takes it first steps on the moon. But their journey isn't going to be all smooth sailing, for not only do glitches threaten to endanger their flight, so do the efforts of rival Russian flies to sabotage the mission and maintain their lead in the space race.

Like most kid-oriented features, Fly Me to the Moon is inherently harmless. It aims only to entertain the little ones and leave them with a nice message about following your dreams, which is all well and good. But too many movies are taking this easy way out, sacrificing quality and originality for the sake of giving kids the same bundle of morals they've seen dozens of times. Very little effort gets put into these projects, from the stereotypical characters to the absence of a real heart. For me, Fly Me to the Moon is the straw that breaks the camel's back. Nearly everything about this movie earns my ire in one form or another. The script comes first on the chopping block, for its as sorry an excuse for a screenplay I've ever seen. I hesitate to say  it contains any jokes, because what the film considers to be humor involves  cringe-worthy puns and even worse characterizations. The worst offender of all is Scooter, who refuses -- during the entire flight -- to shut up about eating food. Don't be surprised to find yourself reaching for the swatter as soon as this little butterball opens his mouth.

With such an unimaginative script, does the animation redeem Fly Me to the Moon? Yes and no. When it comes to environments, the film appears very lush and detailed. In fact, it's a treat to be taken on a tour of such eye-popping settings, from Nat's backyard home to the inner workings of the Apollo 11 shuttle. But for whatever reason, such pleasing visuals don't carry over to the characters. Not only are the anthropomorphized bugs flat-out creepy, the humans all look like emotionless mannequins. Kids won't mind, but I can't vouch for their parents. As far as voice acting goes, Fly Me to the Moon is a mixed bag. The screeching done by the three main characters is enough to shatter your eardrums, but I like the enthusiastic effort given by Lloyd as Grandpa McFly. Tim Curry also relishes his part as a treacherous Russian fly. 

Fly Me to the Moon might have worked better, perhaps even brilliantly, with a running time of 20 minutes instead of 84. Unfortunately, the film's concept becomes stretched way too far and tests a viewer's suspension of disbelief one too many times. This animated movie will probably entertain the tiniest toddlers, but I'll bet a few cynical ones may  prove me wrong. 

MY RATING: * 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by nWave Pictures and rated "G" for general audiences.)