Review: Monsters vs Aliens (2009)

Directors: Rob Letterman (Shark Tale), Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2)

Cast: Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde, Walk the Line), Seth Rogan (Knocked Up, Superbad), Hugh Laurie (House, Stuart Little), Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Blades of Glory), Kiefer Sutherland (24, Stand by Me), Rainn Wilson (The Office, The Rocker), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report), Pual Rudd (Role Models, Knocked Up), Amy Poehler (SNL, Baby Mama), John Krasinski (The Office, License to Wed), Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones's Diary, Jerry Maguire), Ed Helms (The Office, The Hangover)

The Deal: When California girl Susan Murphy (Witherspoon) is unwittingly hit by a meteor full of quantonium on her wedding day, she unexpectedly grows to almost 50 feet tall. The military takes over, and Susan is transported to a secret facility for monsters. There, she is renamed Ginormica and meets Dr Cockroach (Laurie), B.O.B. (Rogan), The Missing Link (Arnett), and Insectosaurus. Meanwhile, in the depths of outer space, the alien Gallaxhar (Wilson) desperately seeks to gather the universe's quantonium, so he dispatches a giant robot to Earth. When the mosters unite to bring down the robot, Gallaxhar travels to Earth to personally unleash his army and take over the world, something only monsters can stop.

Thoughts: "Attention all aliens. Destroy all monsters." It's a great line, but it only tells half the story of this film. It's almost disappointing that there isn't more monster versus alien action, but then I remember the humor, and I let it slide. The jokes tend to hit their mark most of the time, which is really the saving grace of the film. The story is predictable at times, but some of that is because the film is somewhat of a homage to classic monster and alien flicks. I thought the animation in the film wasn't anything mind-blowing, but it did look nice and felt right for the film.

The voice cast was pretty good. I liked the collection of well known actors and actresses, and their personalities worked well for the characters. I thought Seth Rogan stood out the most. Though he seems to be doing the same comedy act in every one of his films, it felt fresh and very funny this time around. Some of it was B.O.B.'s lack of intelligence, but much of the credit can go to Rogan's delivery. I've enjoyed Will Arnett since his days on Arrested Development, and I though The Missing Link's tough-guy attitude was perfect for Arnett, who always comes across less tough that he actually is, which can be very funny.

Verdict: It might not prove to be unforgettable, but it is a fun and entertaining film that the whole family can sit down and enjoy. ☆☆☆1/2