MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
The battle at the heart of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is the fight waged against mediocrity. And the tragic report from the front lines is that the monsters, the aliens and the viewers lost the fight. This DreamWorks release might employ state of the art 3-D technology to make an impressive looking film but the characters are strictly one-dimensional and the story is even flatter than that. Despite the great expectations that preceded it, this movie is its own worst enemy by failing to beat the boredom driven by a script that seemed to think it could ride on its admittedly great premise and settled for a derivative, paint-by-numbers story.
The movie starts out great and within the first few minutes it has promised us that there is going to be a lot to like about this film. A 50-foot woman! Monsters! Aliens! The Earth under attack! And all of it in 3-D! What more could you ask for? To start, most of us would hope for some originality.
After a solid opening, things come to a screeching halt as the general in charge of the secret lab holding Earth’s monsters is required to deliver the heavy handed exposition that tells us what we already picked up on. Monsters really do exist and they are being held in a secret facility for the safety and psychological well-being of a public that just couldn’t handle the truth. This short sequence illustrates what is wrong with the rest of the film. It is clumsy, boring and is the harbinger of the lack of creativity that could have elevated this story above its roots as a cheesy b-movie. For the rest of the show, the film suffers from the same level of pedestrian storytelling. Moments that should have been played as clever homage are simply derivative lifts from better movies.
Is it fair to wonder what this film would have been in the hands of the filmmakers at Pixar? Would it have been more than just some slapstick wrapped around a few unexciting action set pieces? Would it have heroes that we actually cared about? Would it have had a heart and a soul? Whether it is fair question to ask or not, it is foremost in my mind and the answer is obvious.
Reese Witherspoon leads the cast as Susan Murphy, the young bride-to-be turned 50-foot woman Ginormica, although she brings nothing of her usual charm and snap to her performance here. But it is hard to hold her at fault in this regard as she did not have much to work with. Susan Murphy, the human face of our monster heroes, is actually the one that connects with us the least. Average in every way before her wedding date with destiny, the day she is hit with the meteor that turns her into a giant, Murphy is a poor role model who values her worth through the love of her thoughtless cad of a fiancé. And as she struggles to save her colleagues, we are supposed to accept that her new physical strength is symbolic of an inner strength that is belied by the ending. Ginormica is a generic gimmick when she should have been brought to life as a tragic, lost hero that takes us on a journey toward someplace… anyplace. Once again, just poor storytelling at work.
Seth Rogen is perfect as the dopey gelatin blob B.O.B. who brings an infectious idiocy to his role that succeeds in grabbing your attention while he is on screen. Will Arnett as the Missing Link, Kiefer Sutherland as General W.R. Monger (war monger, get it?) and Rainn Wilson as the evil alien leader Gallaxhar all give performances that they saw someone do before. The biggest disappointment is the utter waste of Stephen Colbert as the President of the USA. Colbert should have been let loose to steal once scene after another but instead is handcuffed with lame shtick (the button for coffee is right next to the nuclear launch button- oops!). The biggest revelation is Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. Give this roach his own movie. While the Dr. should have been the leader of our heroes, it was in name only has he is marginalized on the sideline. What a waste.
In addition to the obvious limitations of the script, perhaps the disappointing reality of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is due in no small part to the major expectation of greatness that it created for itself by releasing one of the season’s best trailers. It looked great and set itself up as possibly the best movie ever. Maybe if it didn’t look so good and have so much promise, it could have slid by as the b-grade monster movie it actually turned out to be. But today’s market for animation is different. The bar has been raised and studios go after the adults as well as the kids. Filmmaker needs to understand that if they want both audiences, they need to create movies that exist on two different levels, both as cinema and cartoons.
One last thing that I feel I need to mention. In the late night screening that I attended, as the credits began to roll, a young voice of not more than five or six years old shouted out “Best movie ever!”. And maybe that is all that matters.
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert, Rainn Wilson
Directed by: Rob Letterman (Shark Tale), Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2)
Rated PG
Running time: 94 minutes
My kids went crazy for this movie. I think that you need to review this movie from the eye of a child.