Cinema

For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.

HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY!: Shown here fleeing from a menagerie of alien monsters, Ginormica (Reese Witherspoon, center), formerly Susan, along with her four other companions, who are also superheroes, are able to ward off the alien invasion and save the planet from destruction.

Monsters vs. Aliens: Meteor-Struck-Bride-Turned-Glowing-Giant Saves the Planet

After planning the perfect wedding, Susan Murphy’s (Reese Witherspoon) big day ends up being derailed by a series of occurences. At the last minute, her fiancé, Derek (Paul Rudd), asks if she would mind honeymooning in Fresno instead of Paris, so that he can schedule an audition for a TV news anchor position there.

But that annoying inconvenience pales in comparison to what happens when she’s hit by a mammoth meteorite shortly before she enters the church. When Susan is walking down the aisle, the guests are flabbergasted when they see that the bride is glowing an iridescent green and is changing into a 50-foot tall platinum blonde with superhuman strength.

Susan’s changes soon come to the attention of General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), the head of a top secret federal agency whose mission is to hide proof of paranormal phenomena from the public. He immediately dispatches soldiers, armed with tranquilizer darts, to subdue Susan and to take her to a maximum security government facility where four other genetic anomalies are already housed.

There Susan, aka Ginormica, makes friends with her inmates: B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), a brainless, but indestructible, gelatinous blob; Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), a mad scientist; Insectosaurus (Conrad Vernon), a 350 foot-long, silk-spitting worm; and Missing Link (Will Arnett), an amphibious hybrid creature that looks like it was the first animal to crawl out of the sea onto dry land. Just when the superhuman creatures are on the verge of giving up any hope of escaping from their confinement, a flying saucer lands in California carrying an army of menacing creatures.

After their diabolical leader Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) announces “I come in peace … I mean you no harm, and you will all die,” President Hathaway (Stephen Colbert) is ready to use nuclear weapons against the invaders. However, General Monger talks his commander-in-chief into unleashing the group of superheroes against the horde of invaders from outer space.

The spectacular (especially in 3-D) epic battle which takes place in the streets of San Francisco, on the Golden Gate Bridge, and in the San Francisco Bay is the raison d’etre of Monsters vs. Aliens, an animated adventure that’s all about wowing the audience with its special effects. Don’t be put off by the simplistic storyline, that even a five year-old can follow, this is a movie that is meant to be appreciated for its technical wizardry.

A wholesome family film that everybody can enjoy, provided mom and dad are willing to turn off their brains when they put on their 3-D glasses.

Excellent (3.5 stars) Rated PG for science fiction action, crude humor, and mild epithets. Running time: 92 minutes. Studio: Dreamworks Animation.

For more movie summaries, see Kam’s Kapsules.

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