Eddie Murphy is “Dave” a spaceship that looks like a human being, but is operated by a crew of tiny aliens, including a captain that looks exactly like the ship.
These citizens from the planet Nil have come in search of a device that was sent to Earth to drain the oceans for salt. This is a much needed element in their world, and they are willing to sacrifice life on Earth to get it. Using Dave to interact with the “giganton barbarians” (Earthlings) the Nilians learn enough to realize their mission might be a mistake.
Critics were not kind to this movie, and I think it is because we all have such high expectations for an Eddie Murphy film. Meet Dave was definitely not on the level of Coming To America (where Eddie portrayed the troubles of another “alien” in American society), but it wasn’t as awful as other reviews had led me to expect.
It is somewhat silly, but it is also fun to watch as the robot ship Dave mugs and flubs his way through encounters with Earthlings in his attempts to locate the desalination device.
The tiny aliens from Nil don’t have love or laughter in their society (apparently no children either,) so they are rather at a loss when Dave is befriended by a youngster Josh Morrison (Austyn Myers.) Through Josh’s understanding and influence, as well as that of his flaky but sweet mother Gina (Elizabeth Banks) the Nilians begin to see the value of emotions.
The Captain decides to call off the mission, as Earthlings have more intelligence and worth than he had thought, and should be allowed to live. Number 2 (Ed Helms) goes berserk and stages a mutiny to continue the destruction of the planet.
With Number 3 (Gabrielle Union) to help him, The Captain is able to regain his command, stop Number 2 from succeeding. In the meantime The Captain and Number 3 realize they are in love with each other.
Meet Dave is a bit confused in plot, with some gaping holes in the story, but in spite of these flaws still fun to watch. I was reminded of Saturdays at the movies (long before videos or DVDs) when we could go for a special kids show. There we saw lots of science fiction movies, cheesy by today’s standards of special effects, but we had a great time watching them and thinking about other worlds, other cultures afterwards.
Meet Dave could be that same type of film, not the greatest by critical standards, but entertaining for a Saturday afternoon with the children, and fun to talk about afterwards. What if other galaxies have tiny humanoids? What would you tell an “alien” about this world to make him realize its worth?
Meet Dave is presented on single disc in widescreen format. The running time for the feature is 92 minutes, and subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.
Special Features for the disc include Crew Interviews, which I found very funny. Each member of the Nilian crew takes a turn in front of the camera to tell what they do on the “ship.” Even funnier is what they did BEFORE they became crew members.
Enjoy the film for what it is, and don’t try to take it seriously, pop some popcorn and relax and have fun.
Meet Dave is now available at Amazon . It is now available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Dec. 1st release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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