Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009)

Monster vs. Aliens is a big, bulgy-eyed, animation movie that tries to boast its value in a 3D presentation. Flashy, but only occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, it's a kid's movie without an appeal to intellect. An all-star voice cast - with the likes of Keiffer Sutherland (who happens to be a remarkable voice actor), Amy Poehler, and Renee Zellwigger - does little to offset the obtuse-ness of the film.

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is an ordinary girl. She's getting married to jazzy TV news anchor Derick Dietl (Paul Rudd). Well, that was before a meteor fell and transformed this ordinary girl into a nearly 50-foot-tall giant-ette whom the government has taken the liberty of capturing and renaming "Ginormica."

Her fellow monster captives are a brilliant doctor-turned-cockroach "Dr. Cockroach, PH.D" (Hugh Laurie), a ball of slime that has the hots for ordinary tabletop jello molds "B.O.B." (Seth Rogen), a charmer who shares DNA with a lizard-like creature "The Missing Link" (Will Arnett), and a thousand-foot-tall caterpillar "Insectosaurus," all of whom have been pinned up by the government for a very long time. Though scorned by a judgmental public, their monstrousness is going to come in handy when Earth is attacked by aliens impervious to military weapons (kind of a nice plot that pays homage to a corny Japanese Godzilla movie or a sci-fi epic from the 1950s, wouldn't you say?)

Creative visuals do not hide skip-along plot points that, quite frankly, are not well thought-out. For instance, of the two times Susan gets captured, her captors always manage to have a change of clothes ready for her giant body. That's odd! She may contain "quantonium," the element that makes her grow, but she's easily captured-and by humans who miraculously know how and where to instantly appear right where a newly mutated girl happens to be made. Somehow, the government can contain her, and yet they can't contain the threat they need her to liquidate. I know it's just a kid's movie, but where is it written that kid's movies get a pass on having gaping plot holes?

A lot of things aren't addressed, like where she plans to sleep or live, but a family-friendly and fun story largely sidesteps these concerns. It's PG-rated for combat action and some crude humor, but it doesn't cross the line into being too violent or risqué for younger viewers. Fast-moving but only sometimes funny, Monsters vs. Aliens makes off with a respectable two-and-a-half stars. C+