Seth Rogen voices a glop of blue goo with one eyeball. If that hasn't sold the ticket for you, know that Monsters Vs. Aliens has plenty of lively animation and a handful of solid jokes. It is not of a caliber of most of the Pixar films, but, at times, it comes close.
The premise, if you are not yet aware, is wonderfully simple. Mutated monsters are real, but the government is keeping them in an Area 51-ish place. A cockroach mad scientist, a womanizing "missing link," a giant, fuzzy insect grub and a food experiment gone wrong (tomato meets ranch dressing flavoring) that turns into the aforementioned goo. Also, a plucky gal who gets radiated by a meteorite and becomes 50 feet tall on her wedding day.
The meteorite is comprised of a substance quite desirable to an avaricious alien named Gallaxhar. He sends down one of his gigantor-ish robo-minions to go fetch and, alakazam, the titular conflict begins.
If you are like me, you were really jazzed at the promotional materials that focused on the 1950s B-movie kitsch factor. Who knows, there may have been a draft of the script that went heavy on this (there are five credited screenwriters and an additional "story by") but the version on the screen keeps this to a minimum. Maybe someone along the way remembered that Mars Attacks! didn't exactly do interplanetary business.
Other than the basic premise, a few film clips, some quick throwaway lines (Nimoy factor, etc.) and an instrumental version of "Planet Claire" by the B-52s, Monsters Vs. Aliens plays very modern. Female empowerment and accepting your inner freak via dazzling action sequences. Modern and very cute. He may not have many lines, but the gargantuan, purring, open-mouthed Insectasaurous made me laugh every time he was on screen.
The story is told very much from the POV of Susan, the 50-ft woman whose mutation sends her into this underground world of suppressed Monsters. Her characterization is standard kid fare hero, angry at first with her transformation, then devoted to the friends in her new team.
Kids will love the movie - the robot destroying the Golden Gate Bridge is action packed, but also adorable – but, someone has to say it, so will deviated perverts. If I may: Reese Witherspoon voices a somewhat curvy 50 ft woman. When she is transported to Gallaxhar's ship, he dresses her in a skin tight black unitard with blue glowy strips. Kind've like a black Tron outfit. Now, I'm not endorsing this in any way, but if a particularly twisted raincoater out there had just the right alignment of fetishes (animation, space suits, Reese Witherspoon, gigantic women) this is something like Christmas, New Year's and Purim happening all at once and in IMAX 3-D.
So grab a box of Gummi Worms, put on your 3-D glasses, look over both shoulders for guys that look like the cover of Aqualung and enjoy Monsters Vs. Aliens.
Ratings:
Writing: B-
Direction: B
Performances: B
Visual Appeal: A-
Overall: B
Vitals:
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Studio: Dreamworks/Paramount
Director: Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Keifer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Hugh Laurie, Paul Rudd, Stephen Colbert
Genre: Animation
MPAA Rating: PG
