The Dreamworks Animation film Monsters vs Aliens had it tough at Butt-Numb-A-Thon this year. Not only was it another movie showing only clips and not the full film*, it came after Pixar’s Up which, even in rough, rough form, blew away the crowd. It also featured the same kind of shitty humor that has marked the Shrek films as trash.
BUT. But it also features a killer concept (monsters that have been captured by the US government are activated to battle an alien invasion), incredible action scenes (we saw the monsters battling a huge alien robot in San Francisco. It blew Cloverfield out of the water for sure) and stunning 3D. Then again it features a scene where Stephen Colbert, playing the president, approaches a newly landed UFO with a Casio. Just when you think he’s going to play the Close Encounters song he busts into… Axel F? What the fuck is this shit?
Speaking of Colbert, the movie also has a killer cast. Rainn Wilson, Will Arnett and Seth Rogen lend their voices, and I wish this cast could make me forget my worries about the script. But after seeing how poorly Colbert was used, I fear for them all.
At any rate you can take a look at the trailer for the film right here. It looks terrific, and I don’t doubt that the action scenes will kick ass. I just wish that they had left the crummy jokes behind. Playing a movie like this deadpan could have been amazing.
*yo, we got clips of Coraline and then the film screened for select critics three days later. Ouch.