Nice, clean, smart fun

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2011)

As far as Dreamworks movies go, it is not as good as How to Train Your Dragon, Prince of Egypt and Shrek, but for me Monsters vs. Aliens is one of their better efforts. True, the story is predictable and there isn't much character development. That said, the animation is beautiful, with well modelled characters and bold bright colours and backgrounds. Not to mention the battle on the Golden Gate bridge, which was stunning. The writing is also very funny and smart, the references to Close Encounters, ET and Men in Black are clever, the music is fun and the characters while not having much development are likable and charming. The voice acting is also solid and fit their characters well, Reese Witherspoon is a nice surprise and Hugh Laurie especially is fun. All in all, very good fun, not a classic, but enjoyable family entertainment. 8/10 Bethany Cox