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Monsters vs. Aliens is one of the latest 3-D movies coming off the line. It’s featured in the regular screenings (which come with 3-D glasses) and Imax theaters.

As the trailer shows, the premise is pretty simple. Aliens come to earth and are far more powerful than anything the earth can muster through weapons and warfare. So in an act of desperation, they unleash a series of monsters that have been held in secret to battle the aliens for them.

The first thing to note is that this movie is geared for kids. At no point does the plot take itself too seriously, and at many times it actually lampoons itself. Yes, the idea of setting loose monsters that have been previously held because of danger to take on aliens is absurd and no real government would do it. But it’s a kid’s movie, and such logic need not apply. In fact there is a funny point when a computer nerd advisor points out just how ridiculous the idea is, and one of the military generals proceeds to give him a wedgie.

The story starts off simply enough. Susan is a typical woman and it is her wedding day. Her life is not perfect, but she is overall happy. She is two steps away from the hitching when she is hit by a meteor. Not to be deterred by small things like that, she makes it into the church anyway with some help from mother. But moments later she begins to grow and grow and grow. Until she’s fifty stories tall. She is captured by the government and put into a secret storage facility where all monsters are found.

Here we are introduced to the monsters. One of the things I love about this movie is that it keeps the adults entertained too. And Dreamworks manages to do this with a new level of class. In the past with movies aimed at the younger ones, any adult jokes were literally ‘adult jokes’ and were my daughter with me I’d actually cringe. What if she repeats that?

But the jokes for adults in here are classy, high brow, and funny. For instance, each monster is a subtle parody of classic monster movies.

Susan is a play on Attack of the 50 Foot Woman
B.O.B is a gelatinous monster with one eye whose origin makes a nod to The Blob.
Dr. Cockroach is the result of an experiment gone awry. He is a nod to The Fly.
The Missing Link is just that, and is a nice parody on Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Insectosaurus has no direct nod to a movie per say, but comes off as a nod to Mothra.

And each character is played incredibly well by their actor. Watch for Hugh Laurie (of House fame) as Dr. Cockroach. Fans who only know of the talented Mister Laurie through House will probably not recognize him right away. Here he uses a version of his natural British accent, twisted slightly to mad scientists extremes.

And though I’m not usually a big fan of Stephen Colbert, he makes an excellent president in this movie. I laughed just as much from him as anything else in this movie. He was perfect casting for the role.

The move is in 3D as mentioned. This can be done either very well or very bad. And your experience can change depending on whether you see it in a normal theater or Imax. I for one feel that the only way to see Polar Express is in the Imax theaters. Because the screen wraps around your field of vision slightly, it actually enhances the 3d effect to the point where it felt like snow flakes in that movie were raining down on me.

Monsters vs. Aliens handles the 3D well enough. But again because it is aimed primarily at children, it never goes that far with them. The field of depth is only ‘noticeably’ 3d at times. Most 3D is more focused on sight gags. An example would be someone using a paddle ball and the ball seeming to fly right at you. This sort of thing will illicit laughs and screams from children, but will fail to truly impress the older generation. The moments where depth perception is given and really shows what can be done were just to few for my preferences. I’d say this is a movie where the Imax experience isn’t necessarily needed.

The humor is good. As I mentioned there are enough adult orientated jokes in there to keep you interested, and enough simple jokes to make for laughs for everyone throughout the movie.

The story is fun. It honestly is. It never takes itself too seriously. It knows it’s for kids, it knows the concept is a certain level of ludicrous and it GOES with that fact and takes it as far as it can. It parodies many things from monster movies to real life events to itself.

I give this movie an A-, personally. It’s not the best movie I’ve ever seen. But it’s honestly really good. But like Taken, it is very much about perspective. This is a CGI movie, yes. And it’s a 3D movie yes. But don’t let that confuse you because of other movies that are CGI or 3D. If you go in expecting a story like Wall-E, Finding Nemo, or a 3D movie like Polar Express that leaves you in awe, you will be disappointed. But if you go in with the expectation that it will be a fun movie that takes you for a ride, then you will have a good time. This is a children’s movie, but you’re never too old to be a kid again.

But please, if you’ve seen it, tell me what you think.

Canterrain