Monsters vs. Aliens

I am unabashed fan of computer animated movies. As much as I loved 2-D animated films growing up, I am fully behind the new direction of animation. I’ve expressed my love for the genre on this site before, and I’ve also expressed my distaste for the other forms of animation. I also love Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Paul Rudd, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland, and Stephen Colbert. Throw monsters and aliens into the mix, top it off with the promise of Real-D, and I’m there. The only hang-up was that although I love computer animation, the only ones I had seen had all been done by Pixar. Could Dreamworks live up to the standard that I expected from my kids’ films? The answer is a resounding yes.

I could go on and on about the great things in Monsters vs. Aliens. The voice actors are fantastic. I would make the argument that this is Rogen’s best performance to date, mainly because he shows how funny he can be without cursing or talking about weed. His character, BOB, could have been extremely stupid and it would have killed the movie, but Rogen balances stupidity and humor to make the character extremely likable. Colbert is hilarious as the president, especially since we’ve seen him talk politics so much before. The dialogue is quick and witty and plays to older generations as much as the younger kids.

Story wise, MvA isn’t anything special, and that’s the real edge that Pixar still has over Dreamworks, but with a title like this, did we really need to see anything other than monsters fighting aliens. I was also very pleased with the incorporation of common sci-fi and horror tropes, something that is clearly done for the older audiences. The movie struggles a bit toward the middle of the third act, but the movie is so visually stunning that you don’t really care.

Since I mentioned it, to say that this movie is visually stunning is an understatement. The animation definitely rivals what Pixar brings to the table (which means its beautiful) but it’s the 3-D that makes this movie one of the most amazing things I’ve seen on screen. I saw Bolt in 3-D and thought it was impressive, but it is all done on a small scale. Coraline sucked and clay-mation never looks good, no matter what D it’s in. MvA shows us 3-D on a larger scale than has ever been done. There were times that my mouth hung open in awe at what I was watching.

All I can say is go see Monsters vs. Aliens. If you have a kid, bring them. If you don’t, go by yourself. If that makes you uncomfortable, adopt a kid and bring them. Just go see MvA and be prepared to smile for the next day or so.