which relied too heavily on clichés and juvenile humor as characters had to explain everything instead of showing it (always a kiss of death for children’s animation) began to elicit yawns from the press row at the screening in just the opening twenty minutes as one prominent member promptly fell asleep.
Upon its opening, we’re acquainted with three young flies, led by Nat McFly (as in “Think, McFly, think…” to steal a Back to the Future quote) who decide to tag along on Buzz Aldrin’s legendary Apollo 11 rocket mission in 1969. Featuring the voices of Christopher Lloyd, Kelly Ripa, Nicollette Sheridan, Tim Curry, Ed Begley Jr., Robert Patrick, and others, the film’s over-reliance on what they felt was a fascinating and relatable children’s plot involving the young insects bogs down the film which would have benefited greatly by focusing exclusively on the astronauts.
This is especially apparent as it seems both completely awkward and like some strange “surprise party” styled prank on the audience in the film’s conclusion when heroic Buzz Aldrin himself walks out during the end titles to discredit every single thing that had transpired in the fictitious animated adventure, most likely to distance NASA from what can truly be called a cinematic waste of “space.” So, in other words, grab a swatter and some bug spray as that'll teach kids to imagine that houseflies have "the right stuff."