Monsters Versus Aliens review

Directors:

Rob Letterman
Conrad Vernon

	Reese Witherspoon	...	Susan Murphy / Ginormica (voice)
	Seth Rogen	...	B.O.B. (voice)
	Hugh Laurie	...	Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (voice)
	Will Arnett	...	The Missing Link (voice)
	Kiefer Sutherland	...	General W.R. Monger (voice)
	Rainn Wilson	...	Gallaxhar (voice)
	Stephen Colbert	...	President Hathaway (voice)
	Paul Rudd	...	Derek Dietl (voice)

Trailer:



Review: After months of previews, Dreamworks animation has deployed the first major Computer animated feature of the year. Being from the creators of Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, both excellent films in their own right, one would expect that Monsters Vs. Aliens would be of good stock. Now while the animation is top notch, and actually pushes the boundaries of computer animation, the writing did not measure up to Dreamwork's previous outings.

Performance: Voicing an animated character takes a certain skill. I've seen many performances , from the great to the utterly horrible. Luckily the actors in "Monster Vs Aliens" do a very decent job. Reese Witherspoon as the lead was just "ok". I think that she got the character right, but I just wasn't feeling her performance all that much. Her character was extremely naive, which generally turns me off. The Missing Link character, voiced by Will Arnett was the weakest performance of the film for me. While he did provide some funny moments, it was usually because you were laughing at how pathetic he was. The last of the so-so performances was unfortunately the villian of the film voiced by Rainn Wilson. While I generally enjoy Mr. Wilson's performances (Sahara, The Office), I found him to be lacking in the role of a credible threatening villian. His character is mainly used for slapstick gags, and alot of posturing. Hugh Laurie as the mad scientist "Dr. Cockroach" really surprised me with how different he was compared to Laurie's other character with a medical degree, the unbelievably crass doctor House. This I thought showed Laurie's range, and there were some genuinely funny moments with "Dr. C". The funniest, and most memorable performance was done by the current number one funny man at the box office himself Seth Rogen (Brilliantly used in this film, unlike Kung-fu panda where he had 3 lines through the entire film). Rogen brought an unintelligent innocence to B.O.B. that really let the character connect with the audience. Kiefer Sutherland's "W.R.Monger" and Stephen Colbert's portrayal of the President were also a welcome inclusion, and provided some genuine laughs.

Plot: The plot I felt was a tad too simplistic. I literally saw the next part of the film coming from a mile away. In spite of that though, the movie does provide some nice dialogue and situations which let you enjoy the film despite the overly simplistic story.

Special Effects: Here's where it gets interesting. Monster Vs Aliens is the first computer animated film to be made specifically for Digital 3D technology. I was fortunate enough to see this film in IMAX 3-D, and it is a sight to behold. For the first time in an animated film, I got to truly see foregrounds, and depth of field that just was not possible before. There were some shots where it really looked just like a real life scene would have, as if an actual cameraman been filming it. The movie literally blew my mind with it's presentation. If you go see this film, you HAVE to see it in 3-D. It will not be the same without it!

Enjoyment of experience: Although I seem harsh in my opinion of the performances and plot, I had a real good time at the show. I've even found myself a week later still quoting the film to my wife and friends, which is always a good sign. However, I must add to that comment by specifying that they are all B.O.B.'s lines. which truly were the funniest in the film.



Ratings out of 10:
Performance: 6
Plot: 5
Special effects:9
Enjoyment of experience: 8

A little over a 7 average, so I'll push it to an 8. But this rating is conditional to seeing the film in 3-D, cause I really think I would have enjoyed the film much less if it weren't for all the eye candy that kept me from getting bored with the plot.



Final Verdict: 8 out of 10