Monsters vs Aliens

Ok, let’s give DreamWorks some credit here, they managed to release a film with a female lead before Pixar. Monsters vs. Aliens came out in 2009, and it wouldn’t be until 2012’s Brave that Pixar would catch-up with their rival on that feat. I’m not saying this is the only bit of positive criticism I can hurl Monsters vs. Aliens way, but it is the most enthusiasm I can muster towards it.

The rest is a grab-bag of celebrity voices, thinly written characters, 50s sci-fi movie parodies and clichés, and a bare minimum of pop culture references disguised as jokes. At least there’s that from DreamWorks, the worst offender of that particular brand of “humor.” Well, there is the whole bit about Stephen Colbert voicing the president and looking/acting like his Colbert Report character was transformed into something resembling Ronald Reagan. But other than that and a character basically performing Dance, Dance Revolution to hijack a space ship while Aqua plays in the background, no you read that right, there’s relatively little references as jokes here.

It’s just a shame that the majority of Monsters vs. Aliens goes through the motions as quickly as possible and still feels overly long. There’s no wit, no inventiveness, no sense of joy or adventure here. Compare it to the comic book love letter The Incredibles, the bruised heart of How to Train Your Dragon, or the emotional heft of ParaNorman and watch contemporaneous films put this one to disgrace.