Review: Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters vs. Aliens
3 Lloyds – Family-Friendly
Rated PG for sci-fi action, some crude humor and mild language.
Running Time: 1 hour 34 minutes

When Aliens invade the earth – It’s Monsters to the rescue!

When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49 feet 11 inches tall. The military jumps into action capturing her and quickly whisking her away to a secret government compound. Once at the compound she’s labeled a monster named Ginormica.

Not sure of what’s really going on, and only wanting to return to her normal life, Susan also meets other so-called monsters at the compound. It seems the military has been quietly rounding up the other monster through the years. Suddenly Susan finds herself in the company of a brilliant, but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D, the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link, the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B. and the 350 foot grub called Insectosaurus.

When they think they will never see the light of day again,
this ragtag group of soon-to-be-heroes,
is called into action to save the world.

Stars Lending Voice Talent

One thing is for sure, this latest Dreamworks animated flick has a lot of star power when it comes to voices. Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon is Susan Murphy, a.k.a. Ginormica; Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie from TV’s House and Stuart Little is Dr. Cockroach. Will Arnett from TV’s Arrested Development plays The Missing Link and Seth Rogen from Knocked Up and Superbad is B.O.B. Aside from the key monsters, Kiefer Sutherland is General W.R. Monger and Stephen Colbert lends his voice for the President of the United States. If you’re looking to hear recognizable voices in this animated flick, you will not be disappointed.

The star-power is an obvious hook and attempt by the movie makers to pull in the adult crowd, as they pitch this movie to the 10 and up audience. While there are some funny parts in the movie, and while I did laugh at times, I also realized this movie is not aimed at me. No, it’s aimed at kids. The storyline is choppy at best and sometimes actually hard to follow. If you’re looking for a solid theme throughout with various plot lines nicely connected, you will not find it in Monsters vs. Aliens.

This movie is not aimed at adults.

However, we do applaud the filmmakers on many levels when it comes to this PG movie. Too often scriptwriters feel the need to add potty humor to such animated flicks. They know an animated movie will pull the kid-crowd. However, with a PG rating, many times they feel the need to trash up the script with jokes that are supposed to go over the heads of the kids in the audience. In the end, the potty humor jokes aren’t funny, and only move the so-called family-friendly PG movie, out of the family-friendly arena.

With Monsters vs. Aliens, since the scriptwriters did not stoop to such tactics, we can say this movie is family-friendly, for the rating.

Keep in mind, we’re saying this is a family-friendly movie for the rating. The 10 and up crowd is probably perfect for this movie. I don’t think you’d want to go much less than 8 though. While the violence is fun and animated, some of it is just too extreme for a really young audience.

Keep in mind, this is a PG movie, not a G movie.

Watch the movie with your kids, and talk about it after seeing it. There are some great lessons in Monsters vs. Aliens worth pointing out. For example, Susan, the main character, discovers she can be an individual, while also being part of a team. It’s a great lesson not only for kids, but also for adults. We don’t have to bow down to the whims of those around us, just to be liked and loved. Being part of a team means mutual respect and love, and the ability to encourage one another at all times.

All in all, we were pleasantly surprised with Monsters vs. Aliens. It’s sad to say, but you just never know what to expect with movies, even animated ones, when it comes to ratings. But, it’s worth mentioning again here, we are calling Monsters vs. Aliens family-family for the PG rating. It’s also obvious this is the type of movie audiences want to see on the big screen. To date, Monsters vs. Aliens is the biggest box office opening weekend draw for the year. It even beat out the much publicized Rated R Watchmen for opening weekend numbers. This Dreamworks animated flick debuted at number one last weekend pulling in $58.2 million. Watchmen made $55 million on its debut weekend in early March.

Enjoy the show!
Dr. Rus