This was a film I really wanted to love. After all, it was shot in beautiful 3-D, the idea sure sounded cute and the film appeared, at least at first, as a homage to my favorite genre, 1950s sci-fi films. However, after a while, it seems that this angle really wasn't all that important and the film degenerated into yet another clichéd and by-the-numbers children's movie. Sad, as the film could have been so much more.

The film begins well enough, with Susan being hit by a weird meteorite just before her wedding that transforms her into a 100 foot tall (give or take) lady. She is drugged and taken to a US government facility for monsters, where she meets four others--Bob who is a cute blue blob (the best of the cast),Dr. Cockroach who is quite fun, the Missing Link who is a 50s style aquatic monster and a giant bug who is quite a bit taller even than the newly christened 'Ginormica' (Susan). You can tell at this point that it is yet another buddy film and by the end, they'll all have worked together to save the planet.

Now I did like the evil alien, Gallaxhar. His voice was hilarious and he had a lot of personality--sort of like The Great Gazoo ("The Flintstones") mixed with The Brain ("Pinky and the Brain"). He provided some nice comic relief and was a decent villain.

What I did not like was how once the characters were all established, the film seemed terribly familiar. You realized that because it was a standard plot (despite the strangeness of the characters),what HAD to happen by the end of the film. I predicted way before it happened that Susan would lose her size and powers--which SHOULD have been an answer to her problems BUT that she would CHOOSE to make herself big again to save humanity and be true to herself. In fact, her entire character was like a textbook example of a combination damsel in distress and spunky female action hero--and nothing like a real person.

Overall, it's a decent film for the kids and parents can sit through it without too much discomfort. However, considering that it COULD have been a great parody of 50s sci-fi films and wasn't (it concentrated too much on the dull plot about self-acceptance and all that crap),it is only an okay film with really great CGI, 3-D effects and music in the ending credits. Plus, it has all the look and feel of an upcoming made for TV kids series and not much more.

By the way, this is more a commentary about the use of big-name celebrities to do the voices than a comment just on this film. A few years back, I met Rob Paulsen and heard him give a talk. He is the voice of a bazillion cartoon characters (including Yakko Warner, Pinky and one of the Ninja Turtles) and he was lamenting how often the studios use non-voice actors for the full-length movies not because they are talented voice actors but in some attempt to boost ticket sales. While I doubt that it really does increase sales, in many films these voices just aren't that great or necessary. As for MONSTERS VS. ALIENS, Hugh Laurie was great as Dr. Cockroach, Rainn Wilson amazing as Gallaxhar and Stephen Colbert pretty good as the President, but the rest of the voices just weren't all that memorable. I really think in some roles (such as Susan or the General),a professional voice actor could have done the job for a lot less and probably better than hiring big name actors and actresses--especially since my teenage daughter and I had no idea who were doing the voice-overs before we went to see the film. Plus, I just can't imagine a six year-old saying "Mommy,...we HAVE to go see the film, Reese Witherspoon is one of the voice actresses!".

Finally, the name of the TV station in the film is incorrect. As the station is in California, the call letters should have begun with the letter K, as all American stations west of the Mississippi River have this designation. Despite this, it started with a W. No big deal--just a small mistake.

As far as Dreamworks movies go, it is not as good as How to Train Your Dragon, Prince of Egypt and Shrek, but for me Monsters vs. Aliens is one of their better efforts. True, the story is predictable and there isn't much character development. That said, the animation is beautiful, with well modelled characters and bold bright colours and backgrounds. Not to mention the battle on the Golden Gate bridge, which was stunning. The writing is also very funny and smart, the references to Close Encounters, ET and Men in Black are clever, the music is fun and the characters while not having much development are likable and charming. The voice acting is also solid and fit their characters well, Reese Witherspoon is a nice surprise and Hugh Laurie especially is fun. All in all, very good fun, not a classic, but enjoyable family entertainment. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is a woman who got upsized by a meteorite on her wedding day. B.O.B. (Seth Rogen) is a gelatinous, brainless creation after an experiment on a tomato went wrong. Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie) is a scientist who turned himself into a hybrid. The Missing Link (Will Arnett) is a creature found frozen and revived. And giant mutant larva Insectosaurus is a product of nuclear testing. The government has secretly collected these monster and now they need them to fight alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson).

DreamWorks has gathered all the iconic 50s sci-fi B-movie creations, and formed a pretty cohesive team. It's surprising that the limited backstory allowed the characters to gel so well right off the bat. It's probably due the fact that these characters seem so familiar to us. It also helps that the actors do some great voice work.

The story itself has one major problem. The movie is basically split in two parts. The pacing slows down dramatically in the middle after a high intensity fight at the start. However the comedy works well especially the brainless BOB. I think this team has good potential.