Customer Reviews

Monsters vs. Aliens

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

News Reporter: "Once again, a UFO has landed in America, the only country UFOs ever seem to land in."

Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):

1. Star studded cast lights up the screen (or at least their voices do) in a funny and action-packed computer-animated film from Dreamworks.
2. Reese Witherspoon is Susan Murphy, a sweet home Modesto girl who doesn't realize her true worth until she gets hit by a meteor. . .
3. . . . on her wedding day
4. The casting people outdo themselves with Seth Rogen as a brainless blob, Hugh Laurie as a mad doctor with the ethics of a cockroach, Rainn Wilson as an evil alien and Stephen Colbert as the President of the United States.
5. Think of a bigger, better Mars Attacks! and Spaceballs.

When an evil alien targets Earth as a source of "quantonium", the Government has only one option, and that is to call out the monsters under the command and supervision of General W. R. Monger (Keifer Sutherland).

General W.R. Monger: "This place is an X-file wrapped in a cover-up and deep-fried in a government conspiracy."

Other star vocal talent includes Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Jeffrey Tambor, Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski, among others.

The plot itself may not be a classic, but the animation and casting make it a movie you'll want to have in your collection.

Recommended, naturally, for fans of superior computer animation, monsters and aliens.

The President of the United States: "Boys, set the terror level at code brown, 'cause I need to change my pants."

Amanda Richards, April 19, 2009

Dreamworks is having a very hard time trying to keep up the genuine perfection of PIXAR. Since these guys probably believe they never will surpass them the next best thing is to just make fun of them and everything else. So because of that mentality we get the latest DreamWorks film Monsters VS. Aliens.

MvA is the story of a young woman named Susan ready to take the next step in her life and marry the man of her dreams. Suddenly she is exposed to a meteor and starts to become a `big' problem. Now she is government property, has made a bunch of interesting new friends and is now part of a team that has been assembled to take down threats that the average man may not be able to handle. Her first mission, stop an alien invasion! Not too bad for the next step in Susan's life.

Monsters VS Aliens is a laugh out loud comedy that really appeals to a very diverse audience. There are numerous references to Sci-Fi pop culture and of course the Monsters in the movie pay tribute to all the classic B horror films of the 1950 until today. Some of those examples include, `The Creature of the Black Lagoon', `The Blob' and The `Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'. The cast is fantastic and of course we all knew that Seth Rogan would steal the show as he always does. Some of the other cast members include Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie and believe it or not a whole new side of Keifer Sutherland. What I loved about this movie was the fact that Stephen Colbert played the president and probably delivered the best line in the whole movie. I applaud `Monsters VS Aliens' for its original tribute to the Sci-Fi parody and it is definitely one of the few DreamWorks films that is very much worth the money. Since `Shrek' there really hasn't been a truly great DreamWorks animation film. (This is not including anything made by the Aardmen Studios). I have to say I am very excited for future DreamWorks parody projects. The two known ones on the horizon are `How To Train Your Dragon' which is a take on fantasy stories and `Oobermind' which is a take on Superheroes and comic books. Let's see what happens.

As far as generic animated fare goes, `Monsters vs. Aliens' is cute and serviceable. I think 2009 kind of spoiled me, with great (and I mean GREAT) animated films like `Up' and `Coraline', so when I saw `Monsters vs. Aliens' I was let down. It killed my momentum a little. That said, when you take it in context it is likable and fun, and certainly suited for the whole family (as apposed to the creepy `Coraline' or the suggestive `Fantastic Mr. Fox').

My daughter and even my wife really liked this. I thought it was cute (if not totally clichéd) but nothing memorable.

Playing much like a rip off of `Mars Attacks' (I need to rewatch that movie again), `Monsters vs. Aliens' revolves around a group of nerdy monsters being kept under wraps by the government until they are needed to fight against some evil aliens who wants his quantonium back. The monsters are told that if they save the world they can have their freedom, so they take the job. Among the monsters is Susan Murphy, a young woman who was hit by the meteor on her wedding day and grew to gigantic proportions. She wants to reunite with her fiancé and find a cure, so she is more than willing to leave her prison and fight the aliens.

The film has its moments, but it isn't very memorable to be honest. There isn't anything here that is going to drive me to watch it again. To be honest, my daughter watched this and `Coraline' almost back to back and she has been asking me to put on `Coraline' again for days now. She hasn't mentioned this movie at all.

That said, some of the voice work is funny (mostly from Seth Rogan and Stephen Colbert) and some of the humor is chuckle worthy (especially most anything that comes out of B.O.B.'s mouth). The animation is standard yet vibrant and engaging, and I'm sure that this film gains some stars when viewed in 3-D (it looks like the type of movie that needs it to survive). It's not bad and it is entertaining, but it won't be one you watch over and over again.

And when I say clichéd, I mean CLICHED!

Well, if you like to see things blow up and some likeable and very shallow characters spout gags that are sort of funny, this is the movie for you. I really wanted to like it, but in the end it was just a lot of eye candy that was the intellectual equivalent of eating all the icing off a cake and finding there was no cake to begin with.

By the way, anyone notice that BOB and the alien probe robot are basically the same thing? Same shape, eyeball, and all sorts of appendages that appear on demand. One is goop and one is metal.

To be fair, there was some rather cool effects shots in this movie, and I'm sure that in some areas the creators pushed this 3D animation technology further than ever. In fact, I enjoyed the "making of" type documentaries more than the movie. Want to make animation like this? Well, they reveal exactly what workstations and software they used, which is more than I can say for most of the "making of" documentaries that come with 3D animation movies.

The irony is that during the "making of" documentary someone brags that this movie took 40 million hours of render time, and the original Shrek took only five million, and then I thought to myself, "Yeah, but the original Shrek is a classic, and this just ain't." I'll bet the original Toy Story took even less render time! You see, there are movies that go for the heart, and there are movies that go for the eye. Toy Story, Shrek, Up, and Kung Fu Panda are examples of the former, and this an example of the latter.

I went to see Monsters Vs. Aliens, and to my surprise I was really entertained by the movie and its characters. I will not spoil the story for all of you that have not seen it yet. But I will tell you a little about the story and the characters.

The main character of the movie is a girl named Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon). She is about to get married, when she is suddenly hit by a meteor. She begins to grow in size, finally reaching a height of 49 feet 11 inches. She is captured by the U.S. Army and transported to a secret goverment base. She is given the name Ginormica.

The dumbest monster of the group is B.O.B. (Seth Rogen) He is very funny and very dumb, which makes him a very amusing character. He is often saying stupid things at the wrong time (which makes him very funny).

The smartest one of the group is none other than Dr. Cockroach, Ph. D. (Hugh Laurie). He is very useful in their battles against the evil alien villian Gallaxar (Rainn Wilson). He has a nasty appetite for garbage. He was a man who experimented on himself with a machine, giving him the appearence and ability of a cockroach.

One of the coolest monsters among the group is The Missing Link (Will Arnett). He acts like a jock out of his prime, even though he is over 20,000 years old. He is actually very entertaining and funny. He is the best friend of the next character.

Insectosaurus is a giant 300 foot tall fuzzy larva. He is basically a parody of Mothra mostly, with a hint of Godzilla as well. Insectosaurus' best friend is the Missing Link, but the giant is willing to put its life on the line to protect his friends, especially Susan. Another great character of the team.

The plot of Monsters Vs. Aliens is predictable, but the movie makes up for it my being very funny and action packed! It is a great family movie and will entertain all ages. So, if you are looking for an entertaing treat of a movie, then go see Monsters Vs. Aliens.

P.S., If you are a Godzilla fan, go see this movie. Insectosaurus does something that might intrest all of you Mothra fans out there. Anyways, Monsters Vs. Aliens is a good movie. Go see it and enjoy the show.

Don't listen to anyone who gave this movie a under 4 star review. They clearly have not seen enough movies to know what a bad movie is. Anyway, this movie was really funny. A person in a great deep depression would end up laughing and being happy by the end. I loved bob, The American president and everyone else. The voice overs were good and everything was as real as it could get. This movie is for people of all ages.

Dreamworks really outdid themselves as an animator company with Monsters vs. Aliens, even (dare I say) on par with Pixar films!

I love it when the writers who do science fiction play homage to old monster films of the Fifties (The Blob, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Mothra) and write a funny plot, a few insider jokes, and no sex or potty humor. Can it be done?

Yes, successfully. Susan is about to get married but somehow gets hit on the head with a meteor. A meteor that holds powerful energy that an alien wants for himself. She becomes 50 feet tall to learn what a jerk her groom is (a newscaster from Modesto, who is moving on to the big Fresno market).

Love the San Francisco-esque scenes, so realistic. Our cockroach mad scientist (al'a The Fly) hooks up a streetcar (to the Castro) with four rockets -- Man, I've never seen MUNI move so fast! (Local humor, sorry).

Susan's fighting the aliens, the giant robot crushing the Golden Gate Bridge, her returning of self confidence and wanting to help her friends communicates so many positive messages to kids who watch this.

Bob is the best. He is patterned after The Blob, can pop his eye in and out, absorbs food and falls in love with a dish of jello.

The DVD specials are interesting: Two "make-of" regarding 3D filming technology (wish I saw this in a 3D theater now) and some "deleted scenes" most of which are storyboarded with voiceovers. Dreamworks added the same thing to their other DVD on Madagascar, showing short songs of their earlier films. I skipped this, as I can only "move-it move-it" so much.

Nicely done package and a fun homage to old-time Sci-Fi. And don't miss the B52s and the Flying Purple People Eater music!

I love this movie! I can watch it over and over. Susan is very "animated" in this. Watch her face and some of her reactions. The general tells them what to expect from him and he comes through. The boyfriend is a dud. Where can I get some of this meteor energy?

To sum up, This whole movie could have been cut down to a 30 minute TV show and not lost a bit of plot in the process. The story didn't warrant a whole movie built around it. I'm glad I watched it for free at my sister's and didn't spend any money to see it in theaters, or buy it, or rent it. It's not completely unentertaining, but it takes a really long time to get where it's going. And when you get there, you may feel a bit disappointed. You aren't going to see anything new here. The characters are ok and the voice actors are only as good as the script allows. If your kids like Pixar or Dreamworks computer animated films, they'll probably watch it and not get bored the first time.

Every animated movie since the release of Shrek has desperately tried to gain adult acceptance as that is were the true money lies and on the Easter Weekend we were treated to Monsters v Aliens.

It stars the usual big Hollywood names in the trendy fashion that is voicing a CGI kid's film. This time we had the talents of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogan (who is more than everywhere these days), a British Huge Laurie as the Monsters and Keifer Sutherland hamming it up voice style as General Monger. I don't know what it was, maybe because I actually liked the actors voicing the characters but I thought they were all great. Reese Witherspoon did a great job as Susan (Ginormica) and Seth Rogan is apparently just as funny doing voice work (and gaining most of the laughs) as the literally brainless B.O.B.

The story is as basic as it gets. Monsters are imprisoned. Aliens attack. Monsters fight Aliens and are accepted into the world. Although the story is basic that isn't a criticism. It was simple enough for the young kids to follow but it is the telling of the story and all the little side scenes such as those involving the President of America and all the daft clichés were for the adults.

The animation was fantastic to look at. It had all the polish of Pixar without being Disney-like and was just as funny as the rough and ready Ice Age series. There were some very funny set pieces and the action was fast and exciting. There was nothing to scary for very young children but there is enough action that the older kids (and adults!) will be impressed by. I will admit to laughing out loud on more that once occasion especially at the "global warming - convenient truth" quip that no body else in the audience seemed to pick up on.

It is an animated movie that you can actually volunteer to take your kids to and enjoy it just as much as they can.