review: Monsters VS Aliens

[Minor spoilers present.]

Monsters VS Aliens takes a cue from the insufferable series of parody films that have been plaguing Hollywood cinema over the past decade, putting together a mishmash of pop culture references involving, well, monsters and aliens. And the military. It doesn’t fall into the usual pit of inanity and self-deprecating slapstick that smorgasbord parody films usually reside in, though. Instead, it puts together a story with sincerely amusing and inventive situations that have become the baseline for animated films today.

The creators borrowed heavily from both old-school B-movie sci-fi films and contemporary fare, and did so unapologetically. What’s interesting about how they brought everything together is the way they managed to poke fun at the now-familiar tropes without coming across as insulting to the source material. The movie feels, in terms of its individual aspects and as a whole, more like a homage than a roast, which is a very welcome outcome for its openly parodic premises.

Any animated feature worth the money spent on it these days should cater not just to the natural audience of youngsters, but to adults as well. MVA does this splendidly, with countless inside jokes, from the subtle (a quick bar of the ET theme while the camera focuses on a missile that has “ET Go Home” painted on it) to the obvious (the musical exchange from Close Encounters of the Third Kind segueing to the “Axel F” theme from Beverly Hills Cop), alongside the straightforward, non-joke cross-media references (Insectosaurus as a permutation of classic Godzilla, B.O.B. as a spinoff of The Blob, and so on) . There’s plenty about the movie that can make a kid laugh and enjoy himself as it is, but for adults there’s a lot more, bringing nostalgia and wit to the table.

The stellar cast of voice talents was awe-inspiring, with very familiar names from all over the popular media spectrum, from television to feature films. To their credit, their distinctive voices didn’t overshadow their performances. They just felt right, which is what any good animated feature voice talent should aspire to. I did have a little trouble not seeing Seth Rogen in my head whenever B.O.B. spoke, but then that’s probably because I just saw Zack and Miri Make a Porno the other week. Hugh Laurie’s voice as Dr. Cockroach was very reminiscent of his more theatrical performances back in Blackadder, and Kiefer Sutherland was pleasantly surprising as the voice of General W. R. Monger.

If you are any sort of sci-fi monster alien pop culture fan movie-watching person, you should see this one. I’d say it’s an IMAX must-see, but it’s pretty satisfying already on standard screens. It’s all sorts of fun and fancy, and thoroughly entertaining regardless of your individual film preferences.

Rating for NewWorlds.ph: 5 out of 5 Green Jell-Os

~ by quinnzap on April 4, 2009.