Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Monsters vs. Aliens is a family-friendly Dreamworks Animation feature which pits classic sci-fi monsters vs. space aliens, in a 1950's B-movie style showdown with modern humor and the visual flair available through today's computer effects. For a special treat, the film is also available in 3D.

The story is simple. A meteor crashes on Earth, or more specifically, onto bride-to-be Susan Murphy. Some substance from the meteor causes her to grow to 50 feet in height. She is hidden by the government with other monsters (based loosely on The Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Blob, The Fly, and various Godzilla foes), until space aliens arrive, bent on world domination. Outmatched by the alien's technology, the U.S. government calls on the monsters to save humanity from annihilation.

All of this is done with a light and fun air, with nothing taken too seriously. Like the best of recent animated features, Monsters vs. Aliens is as enjoyable for adults as for children, thanks in large part to a constant barrage of jokes and a stellar voice cast. Reese Witherspoon is wonderful as Susan Murphy, while 24's Kiefer Sutherland gets a rare chance to flex his comedic muscle as backwoods general W.R. Monger.

The Office's Rain Wilson is fine as Galaxar (the evil alien), as is Arrested Development's Will Arnett as The Missing Link and House's Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach. Popular political comedian Stephen Colbert, in an inspired casting choice, plays the President of the United States. Hands down the best character, in my opinion, is Seth Rogen's B.O.B, a gelatinous creature who is blissfully stupid and eats anything in his path. The character design is fantastic, and the film is a visual treat. Monsters vs. Aliens comes recommended to people of all ages.

Fmovies: Monster versus Aliens is a sometimes funny and sometimes interesting, but mostly the story is dull and the plot is nearly a non-entity.

However, this movie does take 3D to a new level at times. There's really only one obvious 3D "gag" very early in the movie, but other than that, you are just in awe of seeing these animated characters truly come to life like never before.

The character that steals the show is of course BOB (voiced by Seth Rogen) He is incredibly dumb but also fantastically funny and the most interesting of all the monsters.

The main character Susan (Reese Witherspoon) has this whole back story, but really we never care about it. Much of her story is just recycled from 100 movies that have come before and very predictable.

Still, the action and the 3D are top notch and this is a movie definitely worth seeing if you can see it in the 3D form. In 2D, I only give it a very lukewarm recommendation.

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is a woman who got upsized by a meteorite on her wedding day. B.O.B. (Seth Rogen) is a gelatinous, brainless creation after an experiment on a tomato went wrong. Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie) is a scientist who turned himself into a hybrid. The Missing Link (Will Arnett) is a creature found frozen and revived. And giant mutant larva Insectosaurus is a product of nuclear testing. The government has secretly collected these monster and now they need them to fight alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson).

DreamWorks has gathered all the iconic 50s sci-fi B-movie creations, and formed a pretty cohesive team. It's surprising that the limited backstory allowed the characters to gel so well right off the bat. It's probably due the fact that these characters seem so familiar to us. It also helps that the actors do some great voice work.

The story itself has one major problem. The movie is basically split in two parts. The pacing slows down dramatically in the middle after a high intensity fight at the start. However the comedy works well especially the brainless BOB. I think this team has good potential.

Monsters vs. Aliens fmovies. After a rather slow beginning in which a girl gets proposed to, the movie picks up when she gets turned into a giant on her wedding day and from that on the film is frenetically comic. Like most Dreamworks cartoons, this one can feel like it's trying too hard (Dreamworks has a Looney-Tunes-on-speed approach that can be a little exhausting), but at its best the movie is wildly funny.

The story and characters are admittedly generic, but pleasantly so. But there is a certain annoying laziness to the plotting. The death of one character is treated as sad even though the audience is given no reason to care, and the female empowerment angle is a bit on the silly side. The plot is at a kid's movie level, even though the humor is funniest enough for this adult.

Not a great cartoon, but a very enjoyable one.

If you're going to see this movie, make sure it's the 3D version - not all showings are in 3D. If you have the opportunity to see it in IMAX - it's definitely a 'bigger' treat ... but FWIW, know this: it was "converted" to IMAX from normal print - not created in the IMAX format.

OK - that said, the movie IS worth seeing. I'd say it was somewhere between "really good" and great. It's a fun story with fast pacing, entertaining characters and nice 3D effects.

It's basically about a group of 5 likable "monsters" that are pitted up against an alien attack. The main character is a new "monster" - Ginormica. She's a young lady that was recently hit by a meteorite with a special composition ... one that made her grow to gigantic size.

It's a fun story told in an imaginative way. The visuals are very nicely done - the backgrounds, characters and scope of detail are great. The movie also moves along at brisk pace - something that grabs your attention is always happening (this makes it work well for kids in the audience). Add to that the fun and oddball personalities of the monster characters and you have a winning combination.

The 3D effects were good, although like most other mainstream animated movies - they start out strong and then get recessed into background. Still - make sure you see it in 3D! You'll be missing part of the key experience offered by the movie if you don't.

All in all, this is a fun movie for adults as well as kids. It's kind of a summer movie that you get to watch in the spring. Grab some popcorn and check out this flick!

The President of the United States (Stephen Colbert): "Boys, set the terror level at code brown, 'cause I need to change my pants."

Monsters vs. Aliens is my first 3-D movie—not really, but it is the first time I have felt the process worked within a film as an integral part of the artistic process. It supports the science fiction, titillates at times, but most of all gives the illusion of reality. DreamWorks can be proud of this addition to the pantheon of excellent contemporary animations (dominated by Pixar) that use its Shrek as a touchstone for memorable characters wedded to mature themes and superior techniques.

Monsters vs. Aliens is also a family film in the truest sense: Elders to tots can enjoy the visual delights of 3-D outer space and observe a young bride-to-be Susan Murphy (voice of Reese Witherspoon) grow by a radiation accident into the heroic role of Ginormica, a woman literally too big for her britches. She must assert her independence from a self-centered fiancé and convince family, friends, and the world that an out-sized woman (read overachieving feminist) has a place in the male world, a superior place at that.

A strength of this sweet film is its use of ironic, sometimes sardonic, language to satirize just about everyone, from the president (see the opening quotation, not great humor but entertaining) to the makers of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, whose feel good '70's glow is ripe for 21st-century cynicism, to memories of such chestnuts as The Blob and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The hip,loving mood of the film is exemplified by the alien's proclamation at invasion time, "Humans of Earth, my quest has led me to your planet. Give it to me now! You should, in no way, take any of this personally. It's just business."