Aliens in the Attic

I saw this movie with my 2 kids -- ages 3 and 9. Although I can't say I cared for it much, they LOVED it. I've never seen my daughter (the 3 year old) laugh so much or sit so still at a movie.

As a grumpy adult, I couldn't ignore the irrational plot line. My kids could care less, and they adored the clever funny dialogue and the silly slapstick comedy.

I'd strongly recommend that adults stay away. I'd also strongly recommend that anyone with kids go see it.

My rating of 8 is an average. I give it a 4, but both kids give it a 10. That averages out to an 8.

Stuart Pearson (Kevin Nealon) heads with his family to spend a summer vacation in Creek Landing, Michigan, with his brother Nathan Pearson (Andy Richter) and his sons and their mother Rose (Doris Roberts) in an old lake house they had rented. When the television has trouble with the image, Stuart's son Tom (Carter Jenkins) and the arrogant boyfriend of his sister Ricky Dillman (Robert Hoffman) go to the attic and then to the roof, where Tom meets his cousin Jake (Austin Butler) and they find the antenna dish totally destroyed. Sooner they discover four alien invaders that are preparing an invasion of the Earth that use a mind control weapon that only affects adults and they lock the quartet in the attic. Now they need to a find a way to force the adults to leave the house and discover the vulnerability of the invaders to plot a defense plan to save our planet.

"Aliens in the Attack" is an underrated and funny family entertainment. I laughed a lot with many moments of this enjoyable story, especially with Robert Hoffman that is hilarious when the kids decide to get even with him using the alien control. The CGI is also good, and Sparks is really a sweet character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Pequenos Invasores" ("Little Invaders")

I only write this review because I see all the hate for it on IMDb. Really what were people expecting from it? It was *supposed* to mindless fun!

I watched this when it came out on theaters with my cousins. Two of us were older (in our late teens) and the other two were in their preteens, and we had a really good time. It was perfect bonding time because this film was about a bunch of cousins!

Sure it had all the kid-movie clichés (e.g. grown ups are too dumb to realize anything is wrong), but it was fun, it was genuinely funny, and for a movie called "Aliens in the Attic" it had a surprising amount of character development. All the kids grew as characters throughout the movie and even the aliens had some character growth! Nothing deep, yes, but I was surprised that it was even there!

Besides, when else will we get to see Raymond's mom kick some alien ***?

I'm in my twenties, and I loved this film. If you look at the title and the cover and know for certain you won't like it, then you probably won't. But if you think you might, then I'd recommend giving it a try, because I was a little unsure but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The plot is pretty simple: while vacationing in a large rental house over the Fourth of July holiday, the Pearson family is forced to stop an advance team of four aliens from bringing eternal enslavement and/or instantaneous death to the human race. The alien technology allows them to control the adults (leading to a lot of slapstick comedy, some of which will be funny to adults, but all of which the kids will enjoy), so it's up to our hero Tom (17 years old or thereabouts), his siblings and his cousins to stop them.

I thought the acting was quite decent. Carter Jenkins brings a lot of good energy to Tom, who is very likable and sympathetic. All of the kids do a great job, and the voice talents behind the aliens bring a lot of personality to those characters in only a few scenes. Thomas Haden Church as Tazer really stood out to me and J.K. Simmons is always fantastic.

The messages I came out of it with were 1) family is cool, 2) fishing can be just as fun as video games, and 3) being different is OK, and being smart is OK. Ashley Tisdale's Bethany doesn't start out as a particularly sympathetic character, especially when taken with her sleazy boyfriend, but she soon shows herself to be a good role model, demanding that her boyfriend respect her and her family.

I laughed plenty – even the jokes which were easy or cheap didn't make me groan or roll my eyes.

I would definitely let my kids watch this movie. Not only do I approve of the general morals espoused by the film, but they'll almost certainly enjoy it. And, except for believing Grandma had gotten into the Pinot Grigio, Miss Tisdale bouncing around in a skimpy bikini, and a scene of Bethany and her boyfriend putting lotion on each other including a reference to "second base", the film is totally clean. And even those things are hardly worth mentioning.

It's not supposed to be smart, it's supposed to be fun. And it's targeted towards kids. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone I know, but I know a couple of people who would definitely enjoy it, so don't discount it so quickly based on other reviews if you think it might be your kind of movie.

A couple of days ago I took my 11 and 6 year old grandsons to see this movie in Oceanside, California. Suffice it to say that I did NOT decide to go jump off the nearby Oceanside Pier when the film was over. Sure, it's no world-beater. On the other hand, I was somewhat surprised that the movie was better than I had expected.

Probably most of the criticisms one can read in the other reviews have merit. But over all "Aliens in the Attic" is far from the worst kids movie you have ever seen. Obvious, yes, but enjoyable for the little ones. I'll say this, I took these same grandkids to see "Daddy Day Camp" when it was out and I was completely disgusted and disappointed by that turkey. "Aliens in the Attic" is a couple of notches above that one. At least there are no exploding outhouses or questionable values modeled by adult characters.

No doubt taking little kids to the zoo or going for a walk in the woods would be better for little kids, but if you get stuck for something to do this summer you should not feel hesitant to take them to this film.