Monsters vs. Aliens

(USA, 2009, 94 minutes)

A suburban girl is hit by a meteorite on her wedding day and turns into a powerful giant; taken by the government to a secret facility where monsters are secluded, she finds herself being called on to battle an alien invasion. The first animated feature designed from scratch to take advantage of modern digital 3-D technology, this is a disappointing comedy paying tribute to classic 1950s monster and sci-fi movies; the premise is inspired and the animation technically impeccable, but the sitcom-level jokes are so flat as to be unfunny and the story is strictly by the numbers.

A Dreamworks Animation presentation/production, distributed by Paramount Pictures. With the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Rainn Wilson, Paul Rudd; and Stephen Colbert. Directed by Conrad Vernon, Rob Letterman; produced by Lisa Stewart; screenplay by Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky, Rob Letterman, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, based on a story by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon; music by Henry Jackman; production designer, David James; film editors, Joyce Arrostia, Eric Dapkewicz; visual effects supervisor, Ken Bielenberg.