Escape from Planet Earth

Escape From Planet Earth is a 2013 animated movie from Rainmaker Entertainment; starring the voices of Rob Corddry, Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba, Jane Lynch, Craig Robinson, William Shatner, George Lopez and Sofia Vergara.

Alien astronaut Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser), beloved hero to the people of the planet Baab, and brother of Gary (Rob Corddry) - head of the BASA mission control - is sent on a rescue mission by BASA chief Lena (Jessica Alba) to the "Dark Planet" (Earth), but Gary has to step up when Scorch is captured by the evil Area 51 commander Shanker (William Shatner).

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Tropes used in Escape from Planet Earth include:

• Absolute Xenophobe: Shanker. He hates all alien life forms thanks to losing his dad to them and plans to destroy every alien civilization he can, regardless of how peaceful they may be. Even his relationship with Lena was a front just so she can give Shanker what he needs, then he planned to discard her after she was no longer of use to him.
• Action Girl: Gary's wife Kira, who mentions that she was a test pilot for many years.
• Action Mom: Again, Kira Supernova. She's the one that ends up spurring Gary to go rescue his brother after her actions net them a rescue pod set for Earth. Lampshaded by Kira herself.
• Aerith and Bob: Gary, compared to just about everyone else, including his wife Kira.
• All Planets Are Earthlike: Planet Baab, at least.
• Aliens Speaking English: Oh so much. Every single species we meet speaks English (including some of the food in the cafeteria), and there's no mention of any kind of Universal Translator technology.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Scorch to Gary.
• The Atoner: The reason why the Grays worked for Shanker, they felt bad for squishing his dad.
• Berserk Button: Well what do you know, a red & yellow alien named after one of Jupiter's moons from the sun. Isn't it weird...er.......why is it flexin' its muscles?
• Big Bad: Shanker, who seeks the blubonium so that he can use it to destroy all the alien planets.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Lena Thackleman and Shanker Saunderson.
• Big Brother Instinct: Scorch (although it turns out he's Gary's younger brother).
• Big Little Brother: Scorch to Gary.
• Brains and Brawn: Gary and Scorch, to the point that Scorch apparently commonly mentions this trope by name.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Averted with Kip. At first it seems that he really idolizes Scorch to the point of ignoring his more reasonable father, Gary (much to his annoyance), but it turns out that he loves them both pretty equally. He even combines his uncle's heroism and his father's intelligence to help spring his mother and himself out of captivity.
• Catchphrase: Scorch's "Scorch me, baby!" when he's about to attack.
• Chekhov's Skill/Chekhov's Gun: Kip is good at flying a remote-controlled model of Scorch's ship, Gary demonstrates that the real ship can be piloted by remote control from BASA Mission Control. Then the real ship's controls go dead at a crucial moment while Kip is hiding in Mission Control...
  • There's also the blast tape.
• Chick Magnet: Implied with Scorch when Gabby (his girlfriend) warned other women to stay from him on live TV.
• Cool Uncle: Scorch to Kip, to the annoyance of Gary.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mission Control AI Mr. James Bing, voiced by real life Deadpan Snarker Ricky Gervais. Gary also has his share of snark, after putting up with Scorch's crap for so long.
• Disney Villain Death: Averted, as Shanker falls after Scorch's suit explodes, but the Greys catch him, along with Gary and Scorch.
• The Dreaded: The "Dark Planet", the planet that many aliens have gone to but have never returned, aka Planet Earth.
• Dumb Muscle: Scorch, the arrogant muscle bound heroic twit.
• Faceless Goons: All the Area 51 soldiers wear face concealing Hazmat Suits that make it impossible to tell one from the other.
• Five-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Gary Supernova.
  • The Lancer: Scorch Supernova.
  • The Smart Guy: Thurman, Kip Supernova, and Hammer.
  • The Big Guy: Doc and Hawk.
  • The Chick: Io, Kira Supernova, and Gabby Babblebrook.
• Foot Popping: Gabby foot pops when she kisses Scorch at their wedding.
• For the Evulz: Lena apparently.
• Four-Fingered Hands: Again, the people of Planet Baab.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: All the names on the floor 46 minutes into the film.
• Foreshadowing: A lot of emphasis is put on Gary's timing in telling his brother when to shoot his grappling hook in the opening sequence. It turns out Scorch can't use it effectively at all without Gary's help, and it ultimately causes him to be captured.
• Freudian Excuse: Shanker wants to exterminate all aliens in the universe because the Greys killed his father in a flying-saucer crash.
• Gentle Giant: Downplayed with Scorch since he's not exactly a guy without faults, but they don't outweigh his good parts.
• Genre Blind: The other aliens think that the villain will keep his word in sending them back home. Subverted a little in that even if they were suspicious, they don't have any other options.
• The Greys: One of the alien races detained at Area 51, and Shanker's right-hand men.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Io, usually involving her eye more than anything.
• Happily Married: Kira and Gary have a loving and deep relationship, and occasionally trade jokes with each other. And it looks like Scorch and Gabby are heading this way after the marry in the end.
• Hartman Hips: Every female alien from Planet Baab.
• Heel Face Turn: Thurman, Io, and Doc perform one at the climax of the movie.
• Heel Realization: Scorch's decision to fire his brother bites him hard when he realizes, in the middle of the mission no less, that he really does need Gary's help.
• Heroic Build: With all of his Jerkass tendencies, Scorch's heroism matches his impressive build.
  • Io my have her anger issues, but her huge build corresponds with how much she's a good guy.
• Hero Wannabe: Scorch Supernova.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Scorch is the Huge Guy and his girlfriend and later wife, Gabby Babblerbrook is the Tiny Girl.
• Humans Are Bastards: Unlike other intelligent species in the universe, they divide themselves into countries over which they have endless wars (where the winner goes into decline and the loser prospers until the cycle repeats), they choose their leaders based on the silliness of their facial hair, and they worship an bizarre creature known as "the Cowell". They also do nasty stuff to alien visitors, none of which have ever returned from what the aliens call The Dark Planet.
• Informed Attractiveness: Gary's wife, Kira, to viewers, thanks to all of the aliens from Baab having near-identical features. Other aliens even comment on it. "How'd you manage that?"
• Instant Sedation: The soldiers use Tranquillizer Guns that can knock out anyone in a few seconds, regardless of species.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Scorch can be quite arrogant, loud and obnoxious, especially to his brother, Gary. He's also the Cool Uncle to Kip, brave, loves his girlfriend dearly, and actually admits to Gary that he always wanted to be like him. Have a great wife and a great kid.
• Kid Hero: Kip really helps out during his Big Damn Hero moment in the climax and he's only about 8 or 9 years old.
• Lancer-in-Chief: Gary Supernova.
• Let's Meet the Meat: In the cafeteria, they serve something called Plarbe that looks like scrambled eggs with a face and it does not seem to mind that it is going to be eaten.
• Little Big Brother: Gary.
• Mission Control: Gary's job and he's really good at it when his musclehead brother does what he is told. The first mission in which Gary doesn't participate is the one where Scorch gets captured.
• Momma's Boy: Lampshaded by Scorch to Gary.
• My God, What Have I Done?: When Shanker threatens to break off with Lena, she's realized she's being used. But she may have just been acting, and apparently is still going with the plan of galactic domination without Shanker.
• Nice Hat: The hat that Kip wore when he was watching his uncle on his mission.
• Not the Fall That Kills You: Justified, If telekinetic aliens can catch them, they can also keep them from being squashed by the impact.
• Planetville: All other species find it weird that humans have split into countries while all other alien species act as one group.
• Pointy Ears: The residents of Planet Baab have these.
• Powered Armor: Scorch's mission suit (later worn by Shanker).
• Product Placement: Much of the film is an ad for 7-Eleven.
• Rage Quit: Gary does this immediately after Scorch fires him.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Scorch is the Red Oni to Gary's Blue Oni.
• Rube Goldberg Device: Gary uses pretty ingenious one to cause the laser ray to malfunction. It required the villain to unintentionally set it off himself no less.
• Shock Collar: All the aliens captured by the humans are fitted with shock collars that Shanker controls with a wrist device.
• Sibling Rivalry: Scorch and Gary, mostly over which feature is better: brawn or brains.
• Stepford Snarker: Implied with Gary; snarking seem to be his defense mechanism against his brother's constant disrespect and arrogance.
• Suddenly Voiced: The Greys start talking in a Liverpudlian accent after they rescue Shanker, Scorch and Gary.
• Tempting Fate: Gary sarcastically comments he hopes Scorch gets stranded when he goes to the "Dark Planet". Scorch ends up captured and stranded.
• This Ain't Rocket Surgery: Right after Kira grabs Gary's Rocket Boots in a rush to get to BASA before Kip can launch in a ship.
• Too Many Halves: Dark Planet cola is 800% sugar.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Most of the characters are shocked that a guy like Gary could get an attractive girl like Kira, even though she looks pretty much like all the other female Baab aliens.
• Unexplained Accent: The Greys speak in a Liverpudlian accent despite all the other aliens speaking with American accents and having lived with Americans for who knows how many years.
• Weapon of Peace: Shanker's giant laser weapon is named the "Peace Shield".
• Youthful Freckles: All of the people of Planet Baab have freckles on their face.