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David Aames
Hatchling
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:42 pm Posts: 11
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
Did not hold up the 2nd viewing, still however a nice little surprise, Seth Rogen is great.
B
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Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:39 am |
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2001
Another You
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:38 am Posts: 4556
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
Reese' character was lovable here but the best voice acting goes to the spaceship computer. Some of the jokes didn't click, and I believe it's on the same league as KFP overall. But god, DW just keeps doing the same films everytime. You get a good laugh, you have non-stop fun, but there's really no depth/originality to those nor affection for the characters. At this rate, DW will never ever touch Pixar in terms of everything, even in WALL•E's year.
B+
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Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:01 am |
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Michael A
Joined: Sat Dec 27, 2008 4:48 am Posts: 6245
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
So much potential, only about half met. The story is frankly rather weak, as is the entire script. The focus on Reese's character, not to mention casting Reese herself was just... bad. A bad idea and poorly executed. By trying to introduce everything through the "new monster" and demonstrating how she learns to deal with the situation the movie drives itself into the horrible and Dream Works filled land of convention. Consequently the whole thing borderlines boring.
As much as it likes to flirt with the line though, the film is never really dull. The other character's in the film are lively and entertaining, which consequently leads to the train of though, "what if they were it, and Witherspoon's character was gone!" But sadly, that hope is dashed. Still, they provide enough of a damper against "SOOOZZAANNNN" to at least slow the leaking of energy, if not stop it altogether.
Then there is the animation. Which is pretty breathtaking at parts, and sometimes just...good. In this day&age good is normal though, so only the breathtaking parts are really worth noting. There are quite a few, especially near the end with the spaceship and the big sci-fi parts. It looks really great, and while the 3D is extremely gimmicky it's also pretty cool.
some of the humor lands, some doesn't. Overall it doesn't matter that much. At the unfunny parts, I couldn't help noticing how conventional and irritating some of the humor was, and how desperate it sometimes felt. They seemed to be saying, "if we can't get the little kiddies laughing than we're goners!" But it is funny, or at least entertaining, enough that this is not a huge stigma.
All told, it's good. Not great, not nearly what it could have been, with a much better writer, and a better voice actor for the lead, but still a solid new entry into the CGI 3D land.
7/10
_________________Mr. R wrote: Malcolm wrote: You seem to think threatening violence against people is perfectly okay because you feel offended by their words, so that's kind of telling in itself. Exactly. If they don't know how to behave, and feel OK offending others, they get their ass kicked, so they'll think next time before opening their rotten mouths.
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Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:01 pm |
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Mau
100% That Bitch
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2008 3:42 pm Posts: 16921 Location: Monterrey, Mexico
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
B+
It was funny at times, and never really felt boring....
_________________ Tongue Pop!
I kneel with Magnus.
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Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:22 am |
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Mister Ecks
New Server, Same X
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:07 pm Posts: 28301 Location: ... siiiigh...
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
Finally saw this. I was afraid Dreamworks would cram in a bunch of pop culture references that would end up bogging it down (Shark Tale and Madagascar come to mind), and luckily they're kept to a minimum. The "Axel F" theme used in the President scene was good, but I could've done without the Dance Dance Revolution thing. It's like Dreamworks operates five years in the past. I get the distinct feeling the writers are going "Remember this? Remember that song!?" constantly.
Anyway, I was fairly pleased with the movie. I had no problems with the cast, especially Reese. I do understand the complaints of voice actors (like Billy West) that big name actors and actresses shouldn't lend their voices to these movies, because they don't really ever do anything with their voices. You know Reese is Reese, you know Will Arnett is Will Arnett, etc etc. The only actor who disguised his voice really well was Kiefer Sutherland.
Totally would've dug this more as a kid, but I didn't feel disappointed. Straight-forward kids flick.
Grade: B+
_________________ Ecks Factor: Cancelled too soon
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Wed May 27, 2009 1:22 pm |
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BK
Forum General
Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 8:30 am Posts: 7041
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
B+ Not their best by a mile but also not their worst by the same distance.
_________________ Calls Ghost Rider + Clash of the Titans = 2x Wrath of the Titans + Ghost Rider 2 Lorax over Despicable Me Men in Black 3 Under 100m Madagascar 3 Under 100m Rise of the Guardians over 250m
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Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:31 am |
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jmovies
Let's Call It A Bromance
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:22 pm Posts: 12333
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
Monsters vs. Aliens is another wonderful addition to the growing Dreamworks Animation studio but the studio still can't reach near Pixar's height. The film though is a fun one with a nice original plot, a wonderful voice cast, and characters that are easy to have fun and watch perform on screen (especially the monster B.O.B. who brings most of the laughs to the screen). It's a fun way to pass by 90 minutes. ***
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Mon Oct 05, 2009 4:07 pm |
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Groucho
Extraordinary
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:30 pm Posts: 12096 Location: Stroudsburg, PA
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
What a disappointment.
I wish animation studios other than Pixar and Aardman would realize that a good script is always more important than good visuals and cheap laughs.
_________________Buy my books! http://michaelaventrella.com

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Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:24 pm |
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Dr. Lecter
You must have big rats
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 4:28 pm Posts: 92093 Location: Bonn, Germany
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
Groucho wrote: What a disappointment.
I wish animation studios other than Pixar and Aardman would realize that a good script is always more important than good visuals and cheap laughs. And Ghibli, right?
_________________The greatest thing on earth is to love and to be loved in return!
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Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:40 pm |
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Groucho
Extraordinary
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:30 pm Posts: 12096 Location: Stroudsburg, PA
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
Dr. Lecter wrote: Groucho wrote: What a disappointment.
I wish animation studios other than Pixar and Aardman would realize that a good script is always more important than good visuals and cheap laughs. And Ghibli, right? Yes, and Ghibli. My bad!
_________________Buy my books! http://michaelaventrella.com

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Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:49 pm |
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TonyMontana
Undisputed WoKJ DVD King
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:55 am Posts: 16278 Location: Counting the 360 ways I love my Xbox
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
I wasn't expecting anything going in, but kind of liked it in the end. It was by no means a "great" movie, but the I liked the cast (Paul Rudd, Rainn Wilson, Seth Rogan, Will Arnett, Stephen Colbert...), the homage to the "old" monster movies, and thought it was easy to watch.
Bob was definitely the highlight of the movie. Again, it wasn't deep and in a perfect world it would have skewed slightly more toward the adult level of humor... I like it when a CGI flick walks that fine line between adult and kids appeal, and this one went a little further toward "kids" than I would have chosen.
Oh, and I watched it on Blu-Ray on my 65" TV and it looked phenomenal, which may have helped too. Grade: B
_________________
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Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:36 pm |
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_axiom
The Wall
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:50 am Posts: 16163 Location: Croatia
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 Re: Monsters Vs Aliens
5/10 -> C-
Boring through and through. The story is a collage of numerous 50s/60s B-movies bits and pieces, but without anything new or without a solid new backbone to keep everything together. I feel like they made the whole script in one afternoon using wikipedia.
The visual look is great, but the second thing that horribly reduced my enjoyment is Ginormica. I never fully grasped her size and because of that I wasn't certain if she was big, or if the monsters and the people were small. She changed in size with every scene. The perception was all over the place and I was pretty annoyed by that. King Kong had the same problem, but it wasn't that accentuated there and in the end didn't effect the movie this much.
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Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:10 pm |
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zwackerm
Hold the door!
Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:26 pm Posts: 21449 Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
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 Re: Monsters vs. Aliens
Monsters vs Aliens features great character designs and mostly fun action, but Susan is an underdeveloped protagonist and the whole thing feels a bit cynical and lacking heart.
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Thu May 01, 2025 12:10 am |
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