Monsters vs. Aliens

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Horrorphile - April 2009

Monsters vs. Aliens

April 15th 2009 04:49

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is about to tie the knot with Derek (Paul Rudd), when she is inconveniently slammed by a cosmically altered meterorite moments before the wedding. At the altar Derek remarks that she’s positively glowing … literally. And before you can say “Holy Deep Trash Sci-fi Flick!” Susan has grown fifty feet tall (rather conveniently her clothes stretch alongside her body). Looks like the wedding’s off!

Susan is whisked away by a secret government organization and held hostage in an underground compound where she meets three other “monsters”; Dr. Cockroach (hugh Laurie), The Missing Link (Will Arnett) and B.O.B. (Seth Rogan), not to mention Insectasaurus, the giant non-conversational monster. They’ve all been rounded up over the years and kept on a short leash in case of a national emergency.

Monsters vs. Aliens Paul Rudd and Reese Witherspoon

Derek and Susan share a moment before the chaos

That emergency arrives swiftly in the form of Gallaxher (Rainn Wilson), a megalomaniacal alien “squid” hell-bent on ridding earth of humans and other unwanted specimens of life, including monsters. Under the guidance of gruff General W.R. Monger (Keifer Sutherland), The (no-brainer) President (Stephan Colbert) orders the monsters into action after he fails to make a successful communique with Gallaxher’s massively destructive robot probe.

President Hathaway has a moment

DreamWorks (who gave us Shrek) tackle the sci-fi-monster B-movie with much gusto. Pump up the visual stylistics with 3D, throw in more movie references than you can shake an anal probe at, have distinctive celebrities voice the characters and you’ve got Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), a damn entertaining time at the movies for the whole family!

Dr. Cockroach, B.O.B., Ginormica and The Missing Link

This movie has been getting a bit of flack, mostly from cynical critics lambasting the threadbare plot, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It helps if you are a bit of a sci-fi geek, and it helps if you dig production design. If not, you’ll still find yourself chuckling and being wowed by the state of the art animation. It’s not the photo realism of WALL-E, but it sure looks ultra impressive. A lot has to be said for the directorial choice of camerawork and editing (it sounds funny saying that when you’re talking about an animated movie). Two directors; Rob Letterman (who helmed A Shark Tale) and Conrad Vernon (who helmed Shrek 2), have combined their shared talents of directing and screenwriting, but also animation storyboarding and layout.

Monsters vs. Aliens robot probe and Ginormica

Ginormica's work is cut out for her with the giant alien robot probe

Monsters vs. Aliens is at times almost overwhelming with its visual information. But that might have to do with me trying to keep up with identifying all the movie references, like the geek trainspotter that I am. The four lead monsters each reference a classic movie: Dr. Cockroach is a mad scientist who experimented on himself and it went awry (think: The Fly), The Missing Link is straight out of The Creature From the Black Lagoon, B.O.B. is basically The Blob, and Susan’s Ginormica is lifted from Attack of the 50ft Woman.

Monsters vs. Aliens Insectasaurus and robot probe

Alien robot probe meets monster Insectasaurus

Gallaxher’s look pulls from Invaders from Mars, while his cloning and spacecraft pulls from Attack of the Clones and The Matrix, and he curses by saying “Spaceballs!”, the U.S. War Room is modeled directly from Dr. Strangelove, President Hathaway plays the notes from Close Encounters of the Third Kind when trying to win over the giant robot, then he launches into Axel F. from Beverly Hills Cop (probably the movie’s genuinely silliest moment), I spotted the head of Shrek as one of the medals on General Monger’s uniform, and even the holographic android lasers from Metropolis. The references fly thick and fast!

Monsters vs. Aliens Susan Murphy and Gallaxher

Evil Gallaxher brings Ginormica back down to Susan Murphy size

Monsters vs. Aliens should definitely be seen in the 3D format, and even better in an IMAX cinema. All the actors do great jobs with their respective characters, especially Reese Witherspoon, but Rainn Wilson (from Six Feet Under) chews a fair bit of scenery as the Mars Attacks!-esque alien villain, and Seth Rogan has arguably some of the funniest (read: dumbest) lines. It might not be as clever or as profound as Pixar's The Incredibles or WALL-E, but it’s spectacular, deep trashy fun nevertheless.

Monsters vs. Aliens poster art featuring Insectasaurus

Here's the trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

9 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling

April 15th 2009 04:53

Potter in a Harry

Thank fuck for a post on Orble that isn't about Orble.

Comment by Damo

April 15th 2009 06:34

It looks terrific.
And best thing is I can watch with the kids.

The last know corner of sanity on Oble just happens to be Horrorphile.

Live long and terrify Bryn.

Comment by Bryn

April 15th 2009 06:49

Horrorphile

Lady David and Damo, just goes to show sometimes the sanest and most selfless opinions are the from the darkest corners, cheers lads

Comment by SpikeTheLobster

April 15th 2009 12:49

Wordophilia
Qwerk
Peanut Butter

Total agreement, Bryn. This one's a major winner - hilarious, loads of great references to other movies and just masses of excitement and fun. The bad guy is a work of genius, it has to be said.

Comment by moonglow

April 15th 2009 15:29

Comment by Bryn

April 16th 2009 02:40

Horrorphile

Spike, glad you agree, yeah, Rainn Wilson's voice characterisation is bang-on as Gallaxher. The President was another scene-stealer.

Moonglow, then take her PRONTO!

Comment by Cibbuano

April 16th 2009 05:52

Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak

ergh... I took a friend's kids to see this and I thought it was awful.. yes, the sci-fi B-movie aspect was mildly interesting, but I thought it was poorly paced and even a little dull.

Comment by Damo

April 16th 2009 10:08

Bryn

I just saw this movie with my kids and it was Gooood.
The quality was sharp all the way through.
The characters interesting.
And best of all: No boring bits.

Comment by Bryn

April 17th 2009 00:04

Horrorphile

Cibby, "Awful"?! "Dull"??? Wow, are you kidding?! We're definitely at odds here.

Damo, glad to see you're on the boat with me. Cibby must've seen a different movie.

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