It's all in the title!

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2009)

Freddy vs. Jason, Alien vs. Predator and now... Monsters vs Aliens? No, it's not another brainless, cash-motivated horror icon mash-up, but a heartfelt tribute to those '40s and '0s movies where cult genre figures (Dracula, the Wolf Man and, uh, Abbott & Costello) ran into each other for no apparent reason. It's also Dreamworks' most accomplished feature since Shrek 2 (although Kung Fu Panda came pretty close).
The incredibly simple story goes like this: on her wedding day, Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) is infected by meteorite radiations and becomes a 50-foot menace. To avoid mass panic, a certain General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) locks her up in a top secret facility with other monsters such as Insectosaurus (the name says it all), the blob-like B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), The Missing Link (Will Arnett) and Dr. Cockroach, Phd (Hugh Laurie). However, freedom is offered when an evil alien named Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) starts wreaking havoc and the planet traditional defences prove to be less efficient than expected.
Those expecting anything new will be sorely disappointed: Monsters vs Aliens is a 100-minute cliché marathon, from the Dr. Strangelove-inspired secret meetings to the typically moronic US President (Stephen Colbert), with the usual string of references (Star Trek and Close Encounters) and spoofs (Beverly Hills Cop and Mars Attacks!) coming along the way. But for once, the plot's weaknesses are actually a strength: since this is a homage to films that had pretty lame scripts, why should this one have a smarter story?
Then again, most people won't care about the plot: the real attraction is the 3-D. Impressive and breathtaking, yes, but as Jeffrey Katzenberg pointed out, the writers and directors were keen to shell out a feature that could be enjoyed just as much even without the funny glasses. This is accomplished through clever gags and even smarter voice casting, Sutherland and Laurie above all ("I'm not a quack, I'm a mad scientist. There's a difference.").
In short: this is fun and exciting all the way, whether you watch it in 3-D or not. Besides, what's not to love about a movie that contains the line "Another UFO has landed in the United States, the only place where UFOs seem to land."?