Monsters vs. Aliens Review
by Steve Rhodes (steve DOT rhodes AT internetreviews DOT com)March 27th, 2009
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2009 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
"Once again, UFOs have landed in America," the television announcer rather matter-of-factly reports, adding, "the only country UFOs ever seem to land in."
Consistently cute, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is almost never laugh-out-loud funny, but the monsters in the movie are so precious that you'll probably not care. For a kids movie, cute is usually good enough.
But let's not try to hide the elephant in the room when it comes to reviewing MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, which is being projected in 3-D in most theaters. The dirty little secret is that 3-D is frequently painful. Watching a 3-D movie is very much like getting new eyeglasses with a vastly changed prescription. Now, the good news is that some people won't experience this discomfort at all, and, for most viewers, the pain will go away after your eyes have adjusted. I was in agony for the first ten to fifteen minutes, but, after that, I was able to enjoy the numerous 3-D special effects without any more headache inducing problems.
Since the script is a mixture of homages to old sci-fi movies -- mostly B ones, but several memorable A ones as well -- and various 3-D sight gags, being able to see the movie is crucial. The scripts for many of the best animated movies could be enjoyed with your eyes closed, since the dialog is so terrific. MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is not one of those films. You will, however, undoubtedly fall in love with the story's various characters, including a 50-foot woman called Ginormica (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), a green blob called B.O.B. (voiced Seth Rogen) and a mad scientist insect known as Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (voiced by Hugh Laurie).
In the story, the government, in an Area 51 type of cover-up, has locked up a group of monsters in order to hide their existence from the public. But, when aliens arrive, the government unleashes the monsters in order to attempt to defeat the aliens. There are few surprises in the plot, but the images are consistently adorable.
There is a fair amount of political humor, all of which will probably go over the heads of most of the youngsters in the audience but may amuse the adults in the theater. We have a Tricky Dick parody of President Nixon and a mocking of President Bush's color coded terrorist alert system. "Set the terror level to code brown," one of the aides to President Hathaway (voiced Stephen Colbert), "since I need to change my underpants." There is even a subtle ridicule of Speaker Pelosi's coddling of illegal aliens, since the aliens, who are definitely doing something illegal, are seen destroying her home district of San Francisco.
In short, MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is a sweet little movie, which is easy to enjoy once your eyes adjust.
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS runs 1:34. It is rated PG for "sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language" and would be acceptable for all ages.
My son Jeffrey, age 19, gave it ***. He remarked on how much 3-D technology has improved. He loved all of the characters, most especially the giant moth known as Insectosaurus. He liked the way the film referenced so many other movies that he has seen, and he appreciated the film's lack of the usual potty humor found in most kids' movies. Jeffrey's girlfriend Yasmin, also 19, gave the film *** as well. She thought it was fun, and the monsters were adorable.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, March 27, 2009. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Cinemark theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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