Apr 27, 2009 01:03 PM
1961 Views
You walk into the cinema hall and the staff studiously hands out 3D glasses. The entire hall wears these glasses, don a silly, self conscious grin and look like a whole bunch of aliens themselves! Yes, the fun begins right there as you settle in with the large popcorn bag.
Monsters vs Aliens at a superficial level is about how neglected and scoffed earth monsters (all creations of scientific experiments gone awry) save the planet by battling the ambitious alien squid called Gallaxhar. But it’s really about discovering yourself. Finding your inner strength. And a lesson that all of us are here in this world for a purpose.
The movie opens with a typical Californian girl Susan on her wedding day. All’s well as she sets off to marry her weather man beau – until a meteorite lands on her. Suddenly she transforms into a 59 ft giant and gets hauled off by the US military to this secret place where they keep all the monsters hidden.
There she meets the mad cockroach scientist, the adorable Bob the blue blob, the mutated fish-like amphibian with a big smile and the giant, fuzzy insectosaurus. She is frustrated, angry and perplexed at this change and does not give up hope that she will one day go back home and marry her love.
In the meantime in some far away galaxy – the slimy alien Squid, Gallaxharlearns where the meteorite has landed (and on whom). Apparently the meteorite has some highly precious and powerful substance which will make him the most powerful in the entire galaxy.
So he sends his gigantic robot on a mission to fetch the person with the precious substance. The rest of the story is about how Susan discovers her inner strength and of course how the monsters save the world.
The movie is peppered with delightful, good hearted, simple humour. I love this American ability to laugh at themselves! They laugh at their goofy presidents, their cranky army generals, their big made, big hearted, quintessential ‘Bobs’ – and we can have a good laugh along with them right through!
My favourite characters in the movie are Bob the blob. He is simply adorable and you feel like catching his squishy self and giving him a big hug. Yet another favourite is the goofy American president. He elicits so many laughs with his stupidity – you’ll love him! And my third favourite is the slimy squid. You can’t bring yourself to dislike him because he tries so hard to be smart and sly – and fails miserably in the end.
Needless to say, the animation and special effects are mind blowing! The opening sequence itself wows you and the action scene on the Golden Gate is awesome. The music is also very apt and blends in so beautifully with the movie. Full marks as well for script and voice overs (Reese Witherspoon for Susan and Seth Rogen for Bob the blob simply excel).
Good, clean, family entertainment. Don’t miss it!
