DVD review: “Monsters vs. Aliens”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
“Monsters vs. Aliens Ginormous Double DVD Pack”
The spring blockbuster “Monsters vs. Aliens” truly is a rare creature: a family-friendly animated film that should appeal to children as well as cinephiles.
The good-natured escapade packs in plenty of agreeably silly gags for the youngsters while paying clever homage to 1950s monster movies like “The Fly,” “The Blob” and the Godzilla films.
Susan Murphy (voice of Reese Witherspoon) is a perky if unambitious California girl living her dream: to marry local TV weatherman Derek (Paul Rudd), a dim but driven talking head with hopes of network stardom. But the wedding is literally crashed when a strange meteor smashes into Susan and turns her into a towering giant a la “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.”
The military immediately captures her, dubs her Ginormica and imprisons her in a secret facility under the oversight of loud-mouthed Gen. W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland). Susan reluctantly bonds with her fellow prisoners: insectile mad scientist Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie in full British accent), brainless gelatinous blob B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), the half-ape/half-fish Missing Link (Will Arnett) and immense monster amalgamation Insectosaurus, who speaks in shrieks.
When the megalomaniacal alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) targets Earth, the government gives the monsters a chance to win their freedom by defeating the encroacher.
While the film offers playful entertainment, the special features focus on the 3-D technology used to make the movie — as it was seen in theaters. For people watching it on DVD, the 3-D option isn’t available, no matter how great it sounds in the featurettes.
The Ginormous DVD Pack includes a second disc with the 3-D short film “B.O.B.’s Big Break,” but the new adventure is in the old headache-inducing red-green 3-D, not the advanced version now used in cinemas. The short actually is more fun to watch with the standard 2-D option, which also includes a comical karaoke music party feature.
Other DVD features: Commentary, deleted scenes and sneak peeks of other DreamWorks projects.
— BAM
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