Movie Review: Monsters vs. Aliens
DreamWorks Animation Film Stars Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie
Mar 26, 2009 Dominic von Riedemann
DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens is a prime example of everything-and-the-kitchen-sink comedy, where countless jokes are flung at the audience in the hopes that something sticks (more about flinging later). This movie is loaded with so many gags that you wonder if DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg was sitting in on story meetings with a loaded AK-47 saying, "Make me laugh or I will kill you."
Even though the plot is predictable as all get out, more jokes fly than fail: the screenwriters (5 officially credited) can live. However, the jokes that don't work are the ones that really pull this movie down.
Monsters vs. Aliens Stars Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett and Seth Rogen
Susan Murphy (Witherspoon) gets a surprise on her wedding day: a meteorite falls on her. Even though she survives the impact, she starts growing during the ceremony, ending up a hair over 49 feet tall.
Susan's quickly snatched up by a covert government organization run by General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), renamed Ginormica, and placed in a holding cell among four other "monsters": altered mad scientist Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (Hugh Laurie), recently defrosted half-man, half-fish Missing Link (Will Arnett AKA Horst from Ratatouille) brainless but indestructible B.O.B. the Blob (Seth Rogen), and gigantic grub Insectosaurus.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the galaxy, alien conqueror Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) seeks the rare substance Quantonium which, by Amazing Coincidental Machine™, was in the meteorite that transformed Susan into Ginormica. Gallaxhar attacks Earth in order to get the Quantonium, which inspires the President (Stephen Colbert) to ask the Monsters to defend the planet, in exchange for their freedom.
This movie is nothing but predictable. Will wallflower Susan become a butt-kicking heroine? Uh-huh. Will she get the chance to lose her powers and become a regular person again? Yarp. Will she become normal, or will she stay with her monstrous friends? Akbar the Mystic says, "You got it, baby!"
To be fair, most of the jokes and references work. Also to DreamWorks Animation's credit, the gag references aren't totally topical, which means they will still have some shelf life 5 years after this film goes to home video.
However, when the gags don't work, they really don't work. A sequence using Harold Faltermeyer's "Axel F" is merely annoying (can we get an embargo on using that song in animated films? After Space Chimps, this is the 2nd movie that bombed out with that tune). Another sequence involving Dance, Dance Revolution is completely unnecessary.
Unfortunately these failures are glaring enough to pull the viewer out of the flick, which ultimately costs the film. It doesn't help that the filmmakers drag those sequences on, as if making them longer will somehow make them funnier.
Monsters vs. Aliens is the first flick rendered in DreamWorks' proprietary "Tru 3-D" system, which Katzenberg believes will get audiences flocking back into movie theatres again. The 3-D imaging is well done, but the filmmakers take several opportunities to fling something at the audience (so far, only Laika's Coraline has been the only recent 3-D flick not to indulge). Between the meteors, rubber balls, debris and hot coffee, the audience spends the entire flick dodging something, which gets wearing after a while.
The Final Analysis
Monsters vs. Aliens is fine for what it is. It's a premise dressed up with countless jokes, rather than being a true story. The film doesn't pretend to be High Art, it doesn't push the boundaries of animation or storytelling. It's comedy by committee and, by that standard, it mostly succeeds.
It gets a 7/10.
Monsters vs. Aliens poster
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