A group of monsters, including the missing link, a mad scientist with the abilities of a cockroach, a mindless blob, a humongous insect and a 50-foot tall blushing bride-to-be, are released from captivity to battle an impending alien invasion.

With the reintroduction of 3-D to theatres, Dreamworks takes a step back to the first era that embraced that technology and releases an homage to the sub-genre 3-D is most associated with; the creature feature. Has humanity learned from the mistakes of a half-century ago, or are there still things Man was not meant to know?

Monsters Vs. Aliens would probably go down easier if it was approached as a sci-fi action movie with comedic touches rather than a straight-up comedy. With the exception of the characters of B.O.B. and Insectosaurus I found myself wishing Monsters Vs. Aliens would trade out its stale jokes for more delicious mayhem.

One of the main problems with Monsters Vs. Aliens is that it skews so heavily towards Susan, the giant woman. I understand that she’s meant to be our introduction into this group, and I appreciate the message they were trying to get across with her, but the emphasis on her story only serves to show just how neglected the other characters are. Huge chunks of the film are devoted to nothing more than asides of Susan interacting with bland supporting characters in order to hammer the audience with a theme that has already been effectively put forward elsewhere in the movie. The entire thing is lopsided, with a few major characters so ignored that they may as well have been written out of the script to give the others an opportunity to breathe.

Despite all that, or even because of it, enough of Monsters Vs. Aliens works that it’s easy to ignore those parts that don’t. While the dull designs of the human characters were off-putting at first, they actually add to the ’50s aesthetic the movie pays homage to, as well as provide a counterpoint for the weirdness of the creatures to play off of. There are also a few moments that are not only hilarious but inspired, playing on the tropes of the genre in a way that adds to the characterization rather than distracting from them. It’s just a shame that they’re few and far between.

Overall, while Monsters Vs. Aliens doesn’t come close to matching Dreamworks’ previous animated feature, Kung Fu Panda, it is an enjoyable, if largely forgettable, outing. If anything, I’m just glad I got to watch a new creature feature, in 3-D no less. Hopefully they’ll iron out the kinks for the inevitable sequel. Until then, keep watching the skies.

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