Formulaic yet Fun!...An enjoyable family flick but had the potential to be more

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2009)

"Monsters vs. Aliens" is the latest (as well as, most aesthetically engaging & impressive;even sans 3-D) CGI animated film to date.
It follows Susan; an amiable, relatable girl-next-door/bride-to-be, whose wedding day is horribly interpreted when a meteorite hits her & causes her to sprout to 50 feet, and captured by the U.S. government as their latest imprisoned top secret monster : "Ginormica".
Away from her family, friends, fiancé & society for almost a month, she befriends the other captured govt't-contained monster.
A scientist mutated into a cockroach, an amphibious monster, and a blue amorphous gelatinous blob.
Susan/Ginormica & her monster co. are quite likable amusing & it would've been nice if they had more screen time & funnier dialouge to work with...But the aliens' motives & plot must be explained in the meantime.
Like many animated family films these days, "Monsters vs. Aliens" contains humor primarily aimed @ children & for the adults: silly random homages payed to adult genres.
Example: Pixar's "The Incredibles" payed homage to the superhero genre Another Example: yet another Pixar favorite of mine, "WALL*E" payed homage to the sub-genre of post-apocalyptic dystopian sci-fi.
The "Shrek" movies etc...' "Monsters vs. Aliens" obviously pays homage to monster movies, alien movies & disaster movies (the San Fransico bridge sequence was fantastic to watch) but I just feel that it had the potential to be something as excellent as "The Incredibles" but was stymied by Dreamworks' unwavering dependency on "saturday morning cartoon" dialog, formula, & delivery.
Though I praised them earlier the interactions between the mad roach scientist, the blob & the sea monster do not seem fresh; like they were ripped straight out of a standard Saturday morning cartoon & I've seen them before....These 3 characters have an inspired backstories that are briefly explained in the movie, so I was expecting them to be a little more engaging.
Now before you die-hard "Dreamworks" fans out there say this user comment isn't useful & submitted by a biased Pixar fangirl, I actually enjoy many Dreamworks movies; even the ones that are usually bashed like "Bee Movie".
Although I laughed harder @ Bee Movie than I did "Monsters vs. Aliens", the latter movie is superior as a MOVIE but like the former Dreamworks flick, I think there was a lot of untapped potential.
The visuals were excellent (the most beautifully animated Dreamworks film yet) but it wasn't as funny as it could've been even though there were many jokes & one-liners.
However, I'm not a child nor do I have a family of my own, so maybe I'm being a tad bit harsh.
Children (and most parents) will Definitely enjoy this movie, so I do recommend it.