Not spectacular but still fun

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 2009)

First of all, let me start off by saying that I had never sat through an entire movie in 3D before, and it was kind of fun. Of course, I was swatting at things for the first ten minutes, but after I got used to it, it was an enjoyable experience. DreamWorks made a dynamite decision by choosing to release their latest installment in 3D, because although there were some decent laughs, the movie mostly relied on visual effects to keep the viewer interested.
Monsters begins with the protagonist, Susan (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), on the day of her wedding to her pompous, weatherman fiancé Derek (Paul Rudd). Right before the ceremony, a freak accident involving a massive falling object (evidently carrying a substance called "quantonium") pummels Susan into the ground. The quantonium has a bizarre effect on Susan, making her grow 50 feet tall and inexplicably turning her hair white. Understandably frightened to death by the giant woman, the government tranquilizes her and she awakens to find herself in a secure bunker. There, she meets an array of other creatures, appropriately called monsters, and befriends them. First, there's B.O.B, a blue, goop-like substance (Seth Rogen), whose handicap of not having a brain actually makes him more adorable than anything else. Then there's Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), a brainy yet mad scientist whose own crazy experiments led to his transformation into bug form. Will Arnett voices a half-fish/half-lizard hybrid named Link that has a curious obsession with weight lifting. Then, topping it all off, there's Insectasaurus, a massive caterpillar-like creature who, sadly, cannot talk.
When an alien probe lands on Earth, the President (the incomparable Stephen Colbert) and his advisors decide to release the monsters in order to take on whatever has just invaded American soil. The creature aboard the probe, a slimy, tentacled Martian named Gallaxar (voiced by Rainn Wilson, who's so clearly having a blast), has come to Earth to obtain the quantonium in order to create a clone army of himself to take over the universe. In exchange for defeating the outer-space invader, the monsters will get their freedom.
Although it had its fair share of laughs, one of the problems I had with Monsters was that the humor was very topical, but about a year too late. Colbert's President was humorous and well intended, but his general incompetence thwarted him at every turn. Mostly, his advisors just used any opportunity to manipulate him. Does that sound like anyone you know? Maybe a certain president that just left office? What I'm saying is, topical humor is fine, but when it's not relevant anymore, it just becomes stale. Another issue I had was that (and I've noticed this in a couple other DreamWorks movies) the reliance on big name stars to do voice work makes the filmmakers a bit more lax on character development. Admittedly, a primary reason I even wanted to see this movie was that I'm a fan of Seth Rogen and Stephen Colbert, so I wanted to hear them. Most of the voices used in this movie are recognizable because of how popular the actor is, not because there's anything particularly distinctive about them. I remember hearing a joke at the Oscars this year in which Jack Black quipped that he'll do a DreamWorks film (he recently voiced the title character in Kung Fu Panda) only to see the prize go to Pixar come awards season. Well, Mr. Black, DreamWorks movies are usually just as impeccably animated as Pixar but all the big name actors in the world won't captivate audiences if there's no creativity. In the last few years, DreamWorks has come out with, among others, Shrek (1, 2, and 3), Horton Hears a Who!, Bolt, and Kung Fu Panda. The first Shrek is a bad example because that wound up being one of the most original and funny animated movies I've ever seen, but when you compare the latter three with Pixar's most recent installments of Cars, Ratatouille, and WALL-E, there aren't nearly as many big names in the credits, but they also have three things DreamWorks doesn't have—Academy Awards. I think the creative team at DreamWorks needs to kick it up a notch if they're going to have a shot at their first Best Animated Feature Film award since Shrek. That means no more sequels (I'm looking at you Madagascar 2 and Shrek the Third). Also, try and hire some less popular but more talented voice actors. Rogen and Colbert can stay, though, because they make me laugh. To wrap up, Monsters vs. Aliens was captivating in 3D, but lacked finesse in the storytelling. The monsters (Dr. Cockroach, B.O.B, and Link) provided for most of the humor, but it wasn't quite enough to make it stick out in my mind as a truly hilarious movie. As I was leaving the theater with a friend of mine, she pretty much summed it up for me. "That was cute," she said. "I'm glad I saw that." Need I say more?
My grade: B-