Dir. Conrad Vernon & Rob Letterman, US, 2009, 94 mins
Cast (voices): Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland
Review by Michelle Moore
Be prepared for your child to fall head over heels crazy with a 20,000-year-old fish-man, an insect-headed mad scientist, a giant furry bug, a jelly monster and Ginormica. If you are wondering what in the world I'm talking about, it's the new computer animated 3D film Monsters vs Aliens .
The trailer for this film reveals the general plot line; aliens try to invade Earth and monsters are sent to save us and defeat the aliens. Which all seems pretty interesting and something children will find a hoot to watch. However, there is actually much more to the story than that. The film looks into one particular character, Susan, and how she got to the height she is; 49ft 11". She is our introduction to various other “monsters”; the Missing Link (a fish-man), a cockroach scientist, Insectosaurus and an indestructible blob named B.O.B. The way the characters are encouraged to put aside the physical differences and appearances of the monsters and look beyond what is on the outside, as they help others and save the world from an alien invasion, is a good lesson for young children. However, older viewers and those who used to hide behind the sofa during Saturday night horror double bills when they were younger are also in for a treat as this film references so many of the American 'B' movies of the fifties.
As well as supplying a great moral code, the film uses lovable and quite ridiculous characters to put the message across. Probably the most lovable is B.O.B. He is in plain terms a blob of indestructible jelly that can be squished without being harmed and who absorbs objects into himself and releases them again without any physical alterations. Because of his lack of, well everything, including a brain, he also gets rather confused and mixes up his life events with others in his surroundings. He always has a smile on his face and consistently makes the children laugh.
Usually I would comment on the performance of the cast, but with this film being an animated one, the cast just unobtrusively supply the voice for each character. Reese Witherspoon is Susan, Hugh Laurie Dr. Cockroach, Seth Rogen B.O.B and Kiefer Sutherland General W.R. Monger. The voices don't really stand out as belonging to a specific actor/actress which is a positive factor. This way each animated character has their own persona and characteristics, rather than being identified with the person who's providing their voice.
Monsters Vs Aliens is the first computer animated movie to be created in real 3-D instead of converting the film into 3-D after production is complete. This added quite a bit to the films budget, but I'm not sure I could see anything different to other recently released 3D films such as Bolt. The 3D experience when viewing Monsters vs Aliens however is quite remarkable. Children are pulled into the film and even adults may jump once or twice. Youngsters are going to love this film and fall in love with its adorable characters.
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