Monsters vs. Aliens Review

There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: When a meteorite from outer space hits a young woman and turns her into a giant, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. The crew of monsters are called into action to combat aliens and save the world from imminent destruction.


THE GOOD: IMAX 3D. This review is mostly for the IMAX 3D version of Monsters vs. Aliens. I must say that I love seeing films in this format recently. 3D sort of got a bad name in the '80s and '90s. A lot of the effects came off as forced and cheesy back then. Most of the 3D stuff you are seeing in theatres now are a different form of 3D. It looks great. CGI films are the best for this type of environment because the animators are able to control the depth of field in the images to allow everything to be in focus. This is why a live-action 3D film still doesn't look as clean. If there's one reason to see this movie now, it's to see it in IMAX 3D.

Funny. Although I thought the movie started out really slow, there were eventually some really good laugh out loud parts. Seth Rogan's blob character B.O.B. was definitely the funniest.


Voice acting. Pretty big voice cast involved in this film and almost everyone fit their characters very well. Reese Witherspoon was tolerable as Susan, the giant woman. Hugh Laurie was perfectly cast as Dr. Cockroach, as well as Will Arnett playing The Missing Link. Really surprised at how good of a job Kiefer Sutherland did as the General. I didn't know he had that type of range. I have to say that I didn't really care for Stephen Colbert as the President. He's usually quite animated when he speaks, but his character in Monsters vs. Aliens felt so stale. Believe it or not, I actually prefer his voice work in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law over this. Rainn Wilson also didn't do as great of a job as I would have hoped playing the alien villain Gallaxhar.

Female lead. I have to mention something that my friend Joel pointed out in his review that I think is commendable. It's been a long time since an animated movie has had a strong female lead character, and I think Monsters vs. Aliens pulls this off pretty well. There is a fine argument about how all the men and monsters in Susan's life are pretty dumb, including her fiancé, but at least someone is trying. Pixar is going to give it a shot as well with their 2011 film The Bear and the Bow (also starring the voice of Reese Witherspoon), but they are going with the fairy tale route like most Disney movies do with female leads. Caitlin Hopkins of the Vast Public Indifference blog makes a point about Pixar's use of female leads. I don't really agree with her and I think she's picking on the studio a bit too much, but I think she brings some interesting discussions to the table. To be more fair, if you took every single movie ever made and split them up into male and female lead piles, I'm sure it would still be a male dominated area. Film in general is geared more towards the male audience because they are the more visual creatures. It's basic human nature. That's why men generally play video games more, enjoy watching sports more, enjoy pornography more, etc.


THE BAD: Story/plot. You should gather from the title of the movie that the film is very simple, and plot development-wise, really weak. It's pretty much government hiding monsters, aliens attack Earth, monsters sent to fight aliens. That's it.

Character development. There is very little character development in the movie. Susan is pretty much the only character that actually grows (literally and non-literally). It sucks because all of the monsters are so creative and fun, but they're barely touched upon at all. You don't really see any of them coming out any different at the end of the film.


Predictable. Whatever you think happens at the end of the movie, happens. Yep, you've already got the ending of this film figured out. Textbook.


THE END: Monsters vs. Aliens is a really simple family film. Kids will like it and adults will find it endurable. Dreamworks had not stepped outside the box with this movie at all and that's what really separates this company from Pixar. As a regular movie, I would say wait to rent Monsters vs. Aliens. As a 3D IMAX movie, I would say go see this now while you can.


DISCUSS: Did you see Monster vs. Aliens in IMAX 3D, Real D, or 2D? How would you rate it against other Dreamsworks films? Pixar films? Who was your favorite character? Do you think Susan was a strong female lead character? What are some good examples of animated movies with tenacious female leads? Live action films?