Horror for Kids: Monsters vs. Aliens Review
If you have ever wondered if something was too scary to show your kid and were not sure if you should rent it or not these next few articles are for those parents who question what they can let there kid watch. At the bottom of each review we will give an age range guide just so you know if your kid can handle this type of Horror/Monster film.
What better way to get your kid interested in those old B sci-fi/monster movies that you grew up with than to bring them out of retirement and in full CGI color. Monster vs Aliens is a fantastic homage to The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Fly, Mothra, Attack of the 50-foot Woman, The Blob and any film from the '40s and '50s that had aliens trying to invade Earth. Monster vs Aliens may be colorful vibrant and silly at times but its these charms that will appeal to you once again like it did when you were kid and you first watched Mothra. It appeals to the kids mainly because it's a cartoon. How it gets the adults to watch it is with a voice cast of Keifer Sutherland, Seth Rogan, Reese Witherspoon and many others.
The plot revolves around Susan played by Witherspoon who is about to get married when she is hit by a meteor and grows to be 50 feet tall. Then the government captures her and she is force to live with other monsters and defend the Earth from an Invasion by a crazy alien named
Galaxar played by Rain Wilson, who the role fits too well if you have ever seen
The Office. With the dialog witty and storyline top-notch, it makes kids want to be watch it over and over again. The monsters are never portrayed too scary nor are the villains, so the parents won't have anything to worry about. One scene in the movie that makes it worth watching is Stephen Colbert from
The Colbert Report, who plays the president of the United States. He uses the song from
Close Encounters of the Third Kind to communicate with the aliens, but then switches to the theme from
Beverly Hills Cop.
The film has had great post-theater success and is the first film to be release in digital 3D with a set of Digital 3D glasses. The DVD and Blue Ray both share the same bonus material
Modern Monster Movie Making, Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
- Monger’s Plan
- War Room Turns on Monsters
- If You Don’t Know
Filmmaker Commentary, The Tech of Monsters vs. Aliens
There are two shorts: Bob's Big Break (which came packed with the first dvd), and a Halloween special that holds its own against Charlie Brown as a great Holiday classic.
News Update: Nickelodeon has ordered a pilot for a
Monsters vs. Aliens cartoon series. There won't be a follow up film tho but the show is slated to begin in Oct 2010 in time for Halloween.
Rating: 7/10
Recommended for ages 3 and Up
