Monsters vs. Aliens preview

Mutant heroine Ginormica flees from an alien invader.

Photograph: © 2008 DreamWorks Animation L.L.C. All Rights Reserved

A line near the beginning of Monsters vs. Aliens, uttered by a newsman covering the extraterrestrials’ arrival, pretty much sums up the movie’s story line and snarky humor: “Once again, a UFO has landed in America—the only country where UFOs ever seem to land!” DreamWorks’ new animated extravaganza is a valentine to those Cold War–era creature features in which mutants swarmed out of nowhere by the dozen—usually as the result of some failed government experiment involving radiation—and flying saucers stopped by the White House with the regularity of a crosstown bus.

Most kids won’t get the references, providing parents with the opportunity to play film-geek mentor on the trip home. A sneak peek (at press time the completed film had not been screened for the media) hinted at a sky-high camp factor, as do the many comedic talents in the all-star voice cast: Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert, Kiefer Sutherland and Paul Rudd. Besides being shown in IMAX 3-D, MvA will be presented in regular theaters in a new 3-D format developed with Intel.

The advance guard of the alien incursion is led by multi-eyed Gallaxhar (Wilson), who assures the good people of Earth that his desire to seize the planet and destroy humanity is nothing personal—it’s strictly business. When the military’s weapons prove useless against Gallaxhar’s ship, General W.R. Monger (Sutherland) informs President Hathaway (Colbert) of a secret Monster Relocation Program. Promised their freedom in exchange for saving Earth, the government’s captive creatures set out to mix it up with the outer-space baddies.

The crew taking on Gallaxhar is as motley as it is monstrous: Insectosaurus is a 350-foot mute behemoth that started life as an ordinary grub until it was exposed to—you guessed it—radiation. The Missing Link (Arnett) is half ape, half fish, and notwithstanding his macho swagger, he’s out of shape after five decades of lying around the lab. Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. (Laurie), is a brilliant scientist whose brain is trapped inside the body of a giant bug, thanks to a teleporter malfunction. B.O.B., short for Bicarbonate Ostylezene Benzoate, is an indestructible gelatinous blob whose lack of an internal filter leads him to say whatever is on his mind (Rogen, of course). The most recent addition to this team is Susan Murphy (Witherspoon): Hit by an irradiated meteor on her wedding day, she’s become Ginormica, an Attack of the 50-Foot Woman–type gal who’s actually only 49 feet 11 inches tall.

Filled with comedy and action, MvA is sure to win over your little monsters. Even better, after seeing it they’ll be prepped for a creature-themed family film fest. With monsters who are more sympathetic than scary, King Kong (1933) and Gojira (the restored 1954 Japanese version of Godzilla) are tame enough for brave preschoolers. Older kids will thrill to Alien (1979) and its sequels, and The Fly (1958).

Monsters vs. Aliens (PG) opens Mar 27.

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