Monstres contre Aliens

When I first heard of Monsters vs. Aliens I literally went giddy. A 50's B-movie revival! Stephen Colbert as the President! Hugh Laurie as a cockroach! I mean, it's called Monsters vs. Aliens!!!

What I got was a mildly good movie. I mean, there were some nice gags in the Strangelove- lite War Room, and some great lines from BOB, but it really left me wanting more. As a whole, the film never got to the comical heights of Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, or even Shrek 2. There are times in the movie where you know that they are going completely random to try and get some laughs, but fail pretty badly.

Besides comedy, the story itself is pretty predictable. From the moment you meet the monsters you know what the moral of the story, and you know pretty much how the whole film will play out.

But it is not a bad film. Not at all. It's good, but not great. What IS great is the 3D. Me, I've never really warmed to 3D, but they use it here in a completely different sense. Monster's vs Alien's 3D is not about shouting "OMG I CAN TOUCH HIS BEARD!!", but more about perspective. And hair. I'm sorry but it's worth seeing just for Ginormica's (Susan's) hair alone.

So basically, it's fun - but not as fun as it should have been. And take it from me: even if you're cynical about 3D; see it in 3D. It's worth the ticket price alone.

It might not be the best but it's definitely one of the funniest Dreamworks animated films in my opinion as many jokes seem a bit more for grown ups rather than kids. I also found it quite entertaining overall.

I honestly don't know what some of these people who've reviewed this film were expecting.

Sure, it's called "Monsters Vs. Aliens." No, that DOES NOT mean that it HAS to be about five thousand monsters fighting five thousand aliens. You people watch too much Predator vs. Aliens.

What this was was a story about one girl, what happens to her and the challenges she faces.

And it's funny. Very funny, in an adult, dry and quirky way. It's not trying to be generic, which seems to be what some reviewers want. It's not trying to be a spectacle, like other reviewers expected it to be.

It's a well told comedy about this girl Susan.

My three year old has seen this movie somewhere in the range of 40 times. I've had to sit through it at least half of that and, quite honestly, it doesn't grow old for me like A Bug's Life or something in that vein might.

Too many people with too specific expectations - and no concept of what's good. Must be why Transformers made so much money.

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.

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!