Film Reviews Animated Films Children's Monsters Versus Aliens
| Monsters Versus Aliens |
 |
 |
 |
| Written by Francis Pruett |
| Tuesday, 05 May 2009 22:57 |
|
An alien invasion once again threatens Earth, but this time some older baddies from our past want a crack at the creeps. Just to add a little parallel, Dreamworks wants a crack at your wallet and Pixar's 3D animation market share, so who will win out? Just about anyone after a lighthearted flick built around the dated monsters of the 50s and the outmoded model of extraterrestrial threats.
The story begins with the origins of the central monster in this mess, one Susan, or Ginormica as she is named when she reaches her full 50' height. A distant planet explodes, sending shards in every direction, including toward us. As luck would have it, Susan is in the line of fire as the rock crashes to earth on her wedding day.
Of course, that marriage-wrecking rock brings the attention of the destroyer of the previous world, one evil octopoid alien (Gallaxhar) whose need for the element now in her bloodstream means a conquest is in order. The failures of the military, the president's musical talents and a number of other cliches lead to the inevitable, the demand by General W.R. Monger that his monsters meet the threat head on. Â The film plays with and almost manages to all-ages its humor, much of which will be lost on younger moviegoers. Indeed, I myself was only slightly clued into the insider jokes based on material culled from the 50s-era science fiction films the project lampoons to a degree, despite my avid viewing of those old gems. Expect to scratch your head a bit. You might also notice certain chauvinistic traces here and there, despite the obvious girl-power themes.
Despite its flaws, one can call this a A-grade spood in full 3D (glasses definitely recommended) of B-grade horror and sci-fi flicks, and its themese are essentially whole-family acceptable. It's no Pixar effort, though, and the writing seems muddles with cross-genre junk at times, though the animation and technical work is superb. Viewing is recommended but not essential for the auteur by any means. The previews for "Up" a coming Pixar attraction, did look wonderful in 3D. A very robust little site full of fluff on this film can be found here, if you are looking for some fun moments and wallpapers for your system. |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 31 May 2009 21:27 |
Her sudden transformation into the 50' Woman (sans the 50s vengefulness) lands her in a secret prison where some other familiar 50s icons await, all imprisoned after their own debuts. The missing link (a take on the Creature from the Black Lagoon), Dr. Roach (a ripoff of the Fly), Insectasaurus (a 265' tall grub) and Bob, (a comic relif "blob" with no brain) are all tenants of the prison, from which she is told she will never leave.More movie features
| Fuck off avant gardists 04 Jul 2010 The Exploding Cinema Manifesto |
Clowning with Stephen Chow 31 May 2010 His humor knows no bounds, but with his last movie CJ7 , a new side of Stephen Chow emerged. Cinemalicious talked to the actor to find out more... |
| More features | |
Movie Reviews
| Who's watching the Watchmen? Ben Sim Ahead of the release of Watchmen, David Greenberg sat down with the cast in Los Angeles to find out how they transformed an acclaimed graphic novel into a highly anticipated feature film. |
| Wedding Crashers Joe Bodia Wedding Crashers, a hilarious comedy, follows the raucous adventures of confirmed bachelors John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) who have devised the perfect way to pick up girls. [ ... ] |
| More movie reviews |
The latest feeds from other member sites of the Think Media network: |
