This movie is classic campy 90s Disney. They even had the typical bratty younger sibling that all main characters seemed to have in that decade. However, the movie had a very anticlimactic ending.
The film makes sure to keep reminding you about Mike's obsession with aliens. So much so, it makes you think the ending would go 'surprise surprise, he really was an alien all along!' You know, like Disney's other 'I'm not like other guys' movies (looking at you The 13th Year). What would be the chance of him happening to guess the exact name (Hanzel) and nature of an alien species if he wasn't one of them?! He even had drawings on his laptop, during his storytelling, that looked EXACTLY like those aliens! The story he was telling even ended with a pair Hanzels sending off their baby boy to planet Earth after their planet was invaded! Mike even says, "He was adopted and raised as an Earthling, but he'll never really feel at home. He'll never feel like he belongs." Unlike what other reviewers said about Mike coming across as the "typical angsty teen," to me it looked more like Mike had this sense of unbelonging his whole life. So, imo the movie builds up an ending where Mike was that alien baby.
In the Thoad's zoo, there was a Hanzel that looked at Mike longingly and like it recognized him. The Hanzel even had a telepathic connection with ONLY Mike on how to set everyone free the zoo! Like, c'mon! How could he have NOT been one of them?! Maybe the writers couldn't decide on what Mike would have wanted to do if it were revealed he really was an alien. In my opinion, even choosing to stay on Earth and the Hanzel occasionally visiting him would have been LEAGUES better than the "he was just a human" ending :/
The film makes sure to keep reminding you about Mike's obsession with aliens. So much so, it makes you think the ending would go 'surprise surprise, he really was an alien all along!' You know, like Disney's other 'I'm not like other guys' movies (looking at you The 13th Year). What would be the chance of him happening to guess the exact name (Hanzel) and nature of an alien species if he wasn't one of them?! He even had drawings on his laptop, during his storytelling, that looked EXACTLY like those aliens! The story he was telling even ended with a pair Hanzels sending off their baby boy to planet Earth after their planet was invaded! Mike even says, "He was adopted and raised as an Earthling, but he'll never really feel at home. He'll never feel like he belongs." Unlike what other reviewers said about Mike coming across as the "typical angsty teen," to me it looked more like Mike had this sense of unbelonging his whole life. So, imo the movie builds up an ending where Mike was that alien baby.
In the Thoad's zoo, there was a Hanzel that looked at Mike longingly and like it recognized him. The Hanzel even had a telepathic connection with ONLY Mike on how to set everyone free the zoo! Like, c'mon! How could he have NOT been one of them?! Maybe the writers couldn't decide on what Mike would have wanted to do if it were revealed he really was an alien. In my opinion, even choosing to stay on Earth and the Hanzel occasionally visiting him would have been LEAGUES better than the "he was just a human" ending :/