Movie reviews

Monsters vs. Aliens

Movie Review by Matt Stevens

Poor Susan Murphy (Witherspoon). On the day of her wedding to weatherman Derek Dietl (the ubiquitous Paul Rudd), the California brunette gets hit by a radioactive meteorite (hate it when that happens), which turns her into a 50-foot giant with peroxide hair (hate that, too).

Susan is nabbed by the military, renamed Ginormica and locked away in a secret government compound, where—in a nod to '50s B movies—she meets and befriends a clawful of mutated misfits. She finally gets a chance at freedom by agreeing to fight (along with her fellow freaks) Earth-attacking aliens led by googly-eyed Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson).

All this leads to some whiz-bang set pieces with exciting—but family-friendly—action, notably a midway showdown on the Golden Gate Bridge. Attempts to probe your funny bone are more hit-and-miss, with a script that injects limp pop-culture references and shows strain at its development seams (not a surprise, given the six credited writers and Xenu knows how many others).

With her spunky, sexy delivery, Witherspoon proves she might have an action-heroine career yet. Seth Rogen, though still trading on his amiable stoner schtick, earns chuckles as blue blob B.O.B., and Hugh Laurie is deliciously diabolical as The Fly-inspired scientist Dr. Cockroach.

But as with many 3-D movies, the flash is more impressive than the substance. The DreamWorks animated adventure ultimately lacks the originality of a Pixar pic or the creative kick of last year's Kung Fu Panda, so let's hope that in future 3-D releases—many more comin' at ya, literally!—the storytelling will be as innovative as the technology.

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