Monsters vs. Aliens Review
Dreamworks Animation Strikes Again
Jack Black more or less hit the nail on the head. During the 2009 Academy Awards broadcast he joked that he takes the money that he makes off doing DreamWorks Animation projects, brings it to the Oscars, and bets it all on Pixar.
DreamWorks vs. Pixar
But that’s the kind of animated films DreamWorks makes: the kind that need to begin with opening credits just so people can see what kind of star power they are packing. However, films like the Shrek sequels and Shark Tale are slight and sometimes passable (Kung Fu Panda), but their approach is the exact antithesis of Disney’s brilliance.
Pixar, ever since its very inception, has time and time again, taken their notes right out of the grandfather Walt Disney’s storybook, telling stories about characters, engaging children and adults alike instead of taking advantage of them.
They don’t rely on big voice talent but rather they find the perfect fit for the character; they don’t make comedies but rather grand adventures that just so happen to be, more often than not, very funny; they believe comedy over sight gags and, most importantly, they cherish the one tool that is most valuable to every child (maybe most adults too): the imagination.
But this is not a review of Pixar. That can come later this summer when their new film Up sweeps into theaters and more than likely steals the hearts and minds of families (both child and parent) and, to Black’s glee, will probably once again steal the animation Oscar right out from under DreamWorks’ Monster vs. Aliens, a slight and wholly forgettable experience that sits comfortably atop the ever increasing pile of throwaway animations that clog up theaters on a weekly basis.
Punch Lines Over Plot
As is the case with most DreamWorks creations, Monster vs. Aliens is more concerned with punch lines than a fully developed story, and inside jokes than any actual sense of adventure, unless one would consider things blowing up adventure.
There are references to Dr. Strangelove, Richard Nixon, and Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth. All of which were lost on the films young audience and none of which much resonated with any of the adults because they just kind of sit there on the screen, waiting for someone to recognize them.
There is no comedy in recreating the war room from Dr. Strangelove because there is nothing inherently funny about it, and if one happens to recognize it, it feels kind of like congratulations without a consolation prize.
Monsters vs. Aliens
The film centers on a Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) who, on her wedding day is struck by a stray asteroid that contains a substance known as quantonium, which makes her grow 49 feet tall. Apparently she shops for dresses at the same place where The Incredible Hulk buys his pants.
She is then captured by the government and imprisoned with other monsters such as Bob (Seth Rogen) a blue blob with no brain, Link (Will Arnett) a creature of the sea, Dr. Cockroach Ph.D (House M.D’s Hugh Laurie, get it?) and a giant caterpillar-type thing known as Insectosaurus.
This team, which is made more of mutants than monsters really, is controlled by General W.R. Monger (not much of a joke) who is voiced by Kiefer Sutherland and is an obvious riff on George C. Scott (getting all this down?)
When an alien invader Gallaxhar wants to get his hands on the quantonium he sends a giant alien robot to Earth in order to extract it from Susan.
The site of the alien robot’s landing is quickly littered with tanks and armed gunmen (this is a long way from the precise and biting social satire of Wall-E).
Then President Hathaway (Steven Colbert) shows up. He looks like a drawing from Mad Magazine, gestures like Richard Nixon and whose idiocy is a broad parody of George W. Bush.
The president ascends a large flight of stairs placed by the robot to a keyboard in order to make contact with the alien creation in a scene that begins with a reference to Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ends in homage to Flashdance. Try figuring that one out.
When the machine doesn’t respond favorably, Hathaway gives the order to fire everything they’ve got at it, including missiles with E.T. references scribbled on the side. The whole sequence is so uninspired that it leaves one thinking: in the alleged 24 hours since the robot landed, who had time to build that presidential staircase and were they not worried of being wiped out by the robot while doing it? Times really are tough.
Thus, a war begins that General Monger suggests only his team of monsters can stop. So a battle is waged over San Francisco that destroys many homes, businesses and the Golden Gate Bridge with not one person running from the whole charade in terror.
It's true, people are scrambling to evacuate the city, but does anyone really buy the San Francisco would be completely empty in less than 24 hours? Certainly there must be a few stray bums who didn’t catch wind of the news still wandering around aimlessly, no?
Anyway, when the robot fails to capture Susan, Gallaxhar decides to come to Earth to do the job for himself and so on and so forth.
Verdict
On a whole, this is fairly rudimentary storytelling with a few scattered laughs here and there when it isn’t trying too hard (which is often).
The film doesn’t really try to go anywhere and succeeds marvelously at getting there. Kids might like it for what it’s worth (especially if seeing it in 3-D) until Pixar’s newest leaves it a forgotten early summer memory, but unless the audience is comprised of those who take great pride in being able to call out references to other past films, there’s really nothing much more to care about.
Rating: 2 out of 5
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