Faced with the dilemma of having a lot of free time and very little money, I decided to download Dreamworks animated summer blockbuster "Monsters vs Aliens". I'm a bit of an animation fan. While I prefer the classic hand-drawn stuff, and even some anime works, I have been known to get down with some Pixar from time to time. This is the first Dreamworks animated feature since "Shrek 2" (I luckily skipped over the awful "Shrek 3"), and let's see how it stacks up.
First things first this movie is aimed squarely at children and families. There are a few gags here and there that work on an adult level, but nothing like in "Shrek" or even in "Toy Story" for that matter. It seems a prerequisite to throw a couple bones in the script for the parents or older folks checking out the movie, but "Monsters vs Aliens" kind of skimps in that department. There were a few nice references to some well known sci-fi films like "Independence Day" and "Star Wars". I even caught flashbacks of the Tim Burton cult fave "Mars Attacks!", and hell, the movie itself is an homage to monster/sci-fi flicks of the 50's and 60's so, there ya go, I guess that was what the older crowd could identify with.
The voice talents were top notch. Rainn Wilson as the evil alien leader Galaxor was awesome, I couldn't have picked a better choice for the role. Seth Rogen was good as BOB the Blob, and he probably had the funniest lines in the film. A veritable who's who of today's comedy stars round out the line-up, including Will Arnett, Paul Rudd, Ed Helms and Stephen Colbert who was grossly underutilized in his role as the President of the United States. And oh yeah, Reese Witherspoon stars as Susan, aka Ginormica the 50 ft Woman. She is alright, not bad, not great, but she is basically just the hero and isn't given much material to work with.
I enjoyed the tone and overall feel of the movie. The animation was solid, there was some cool action sequences. I really wish I would have taken the time to check it out in the theaters when it was shown in 3-D. I think that would have added a whole other element that I was missing from watching it on my computer (even though the copy I downloaded was Blu-Ray quality). Like I said, the humor is very tame and geared towards children with a few exceptions littered around. It's moral of believing in yourself no matter who you are or what you look like is tired and trite, but, the way it's presented isn't overly sappy or heavy handed, which was a welcome relief for me.
In closing, this is a fun little family flick that I think anyone could enjoy. Harmless, inoffensive and worth a few laughs. I would say definitely give "Monsters vs Aliens" a shot...if nothing else, it's ten times better than both "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "G.I. Joe".
RATING: 3 out 4
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