Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo [Click to enlarge]

The release of "Toy Story" in 1995 forever revolutionized the world of animated films. The re-release of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3-D in 2007 may have been the beginning of a similarly revolutionary trend in animated films. With the brilliant achievement of digital 3-D projection technology, films (in particular animated films) now seem to leap off the screen. Most studio executives saw the lucrative prospects associated with 3-D releases, as evidenced by 3-D presentation of most animated features in the past year. Dreamworks' most recent piece, "Monsters vs. Aliens," is no exception.

The film begins with Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon,) moments away from marrying her charming but conceited fiancée, hit by a meteorite. Infecting Susan with the fictitious element quantonium, Susan begins to grow enormous at the altar.

Reaching her zenith at 49 feet (a nod to the '50s era "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,") Susan is drugged by a giant tranquilizer courtesy of a top-secret government agency. Waking up in some sort of prison, Susan meets four colorful characters. The first is Dr. Cockroach (voiced by Hugh Laurie,) a mad scientist who unwittingly transformed himself into a cockroach. The second, B.O.B. (Seth Rogen,) is a blue, indestructible and completely brainless gelatinous mass (via the 1958 Steve McQueen horror classic "The Blob.") Third is The Missing Link (Will Arnett,) a fish-ape hybrid with a macho attitude. Finally, there is a huge pet by the name of Insectasaurus, a gargantuan moth-like creature with the intelligence of an infant.

Kept in a secret government facility, these monsters are called out of hiding to defeat an alien robot threat courtesy of the egotistical alien Galaxar (Rainn Wilson). Finding strength she didn't know she had, Susan helps defeat the robot with her newfound friends. But Galaxar will not rest until he has Susan's quantonium supply in his hands.

"Monsters vs. Aliens" comes on the scene when the standard for animated films is quite high. Thanks to films like "Wall-E," "Bolt" and "The Incredibles," computer animated features have earned a prestigious reputation, both as technical achievements and well-structured cinematic pieces. "Monsters vs. Aliens" isn't bad. It's just not in the same bracket as the films listed above or even other Dreamworks Animation movies like "Madagascar" and "Over the Hedge."

The movie is undeniably funny. It's hard to decide if Wilson or his character of Dwight Schrute (NBC's "The Office") is the mastermind behind the scheming Galaxar. Stephen Colbert's voicing of The President is perhaps not the most original idea, but nonetheless serves up a solid dose of laughs. Rogen proves he can do clean comedy as a completely clueless but lovable blue blob.

What ultimately damages "Monsters vs. Aliens" is an all-too-caustic political axe grinding. Making references to films like Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove," the movie drives home its political message with a bit too much emphasis. It's not that the film inappropriately criticizes its subjects or lampoons them without real humor. But incorporating a somewhat heavy-handed political dialogue into an animated film aimed at children soils the pure entertainment value of such a piece. Reminding audiences seeking plain entertainment of an uncomfortable economy and political climate logically has a retrogressive effect.

"Monsters vs. Aliens" is not without merit, both in humor, spectacle and entertainment value. But it simply is not in the same class as many of the computer animated films currently in circulation. The film is good for a few genuine laughs, but that's about it.

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