Featuring excellent visuals and a formidable cast, Monsters vs Aliens is a fun blend of action, comedy, and science fiction you should check out. As its title suggests, it follows an alien invasion that meets heavy resistance when all the secret monsters of the Earth unite. If you’re a fan of creature features, you’ll even recognize some of the monsters fighting the good fight. For example, B.O.B. is a reference to The Blob, Ph.D. is a reference to The Fly, and so on and so on. This is a little bit of content for adults as the majority of this movie is oriented toward kids.
This doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy Monsters vs Aliens if you’re an adult. And I say that as an adult who did enjoy this charming animated movie. Sure, a couple of segments were a bit boring but at least the cast was excellent. Reese Witherspoon plays the role and we also have the likes of Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Paul Rudd, and others. The atmosphere is, however, the thing that I loved most about this movie. It’s easygoing and just fun, without anything that requires thinking.
The quality of the animation is stellar as this is a DreamWorks Animation project. And it’s also a 3D movie, offering a unique experience to those who decide to get this version. Of course, you’ll need to have special equipment (television set, glasses) to make this work. However, I’ve watched the regular 2D version, and apart from a couple of scenes you see they did specifically for this 3D kajigger, the rest of the footage is excellent. Sometimes you just want to relax and watch something unobtrusive and a bit shiny. And this is exactly that.
It’s Susan Murphy’s wedding day and everybody is excited to witness this celebration of love. However, mere moments before she was supposed to say yes, Susan was hit by a strange meteor. And that strange meteor has made her into a giant, towering not just over her future husband but the entire church. The government quickly intervenes placing her in a secret facility where she starts making friends with other beings with extraordinary abilities. This is where the aliens come into play…
If this whole monsters thing in an animated movie does sound familiar to you, you’re probably thinking of Monsters Inc. This 2001 hit was a cooperation between Pixar and Disney, offering wacky characters and an intriguing story. Monsters vs Aliens is a more straightforward affair, not trying to be meta or whatever. There were some cool characters, like the president, and a couple of nods to the 50s science fiction movies but that’s about it. If you’re looking for something similar, I suggest you check out the nineties classics Mars Attacks.
Directors: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Writers: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, Rob Letterman
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd
Fun Facts: The budget for the movie Monsters vs Aliens was $175 million, it’s way pricier than anything Disney and Pixar have produced so far. The box office returns were excellent, with the movie making more than $380 million.
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IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892782/
