Sunday 26 September 2010

Monsters Vs Aliens: Review

Dreamworks have always been in the shadows of Pixar when it comes to CGI animation. In fact, most studios cannot really compete with the genius of the studio who are innovators of the art form. So instead of trying to compete, Dreamworks take a different route and try to produce entertaining pieces that are high on laughs. They succeeded with Shrek and Shrek 2 (not so much with Shrek The Third) and they have succeeded with this.

A young girl on the day of her wedding, is hit by a meteor, making her grow into a giant. She is whisked away by the government where she discovers that they have hidden a group of other aliens. When the earth comes under attack, it is up to this mix of bizarre creatures to save day.

There is plenty to enjoy here, with the talented voices helping create some nicely rounded characters. Reece Witherspoon is perfect as the girl, while Seth Rogan gets the biggest laughs as a jelly-like creature called Bob. TV comedian Stephen Colbert (he of The Colbert Report) has fun as the President, while Hugh Laurie, Keifer Sutherland and Rainn Wilson all give enough persoanlity to make this bag of misfits plenty of colour.

This is an affectionate parody of the 50s B-movie sci-fi films, and you can see the love for this kind of movie making in the colourful animations. So the storyline is very thin and the inclusion of 3-D doesn't really enhance it but it's fun and should keep the more undemanding audience happy. Compared to other CGI animation of late, there is a lot more care and attention to detail, but this is like the second feature, while we await the arrival of Pixar's new film Up.

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