Monsters vs Aliens

Rating: * * *

Verdict:

Worth seeing purely for Seth Grogan perfectly cast as a brainless alien.

Jam-packed with references to

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

,

The Blob

and

War of the Worlds

among others,

Monsters vs. Aliens

is both a nod to B-grade sci-fi films, and a family friendly 3D feature that will keep parents and kids entertained.

DreamWorks Animation boasts this is the first-ever feature film using "InTru 3D" technology that enables animators to conceive, develop and author fully in 3D, creating a more realistic experience.

It does look fantastic, and fulfils the promise of less eyestrain and fatigue ( I did, however, spend quite a bit of time scrambling around people's feet finding my glasses, which easily slip off the nose.

Like its Dreamworks predecessors, this has an all-star voice cast led by with Reese Witherspoon as Susan Murphy, a California girl, hit by a meteorite, which turns her into a 49-feet-11-inch Bratz doll lookalike.

The military are oddly well prepared for this and Susan is captured and transported to a secret prison that houses four other monsters: the scientist who accidentally turned himself into a cockroach, Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D. (Laurie); kung-fu fighting half-ape, half-fish, The Missing Link (Will Arnett); gloriously stupid gelatinous B.O.B. (Rogen); and furry, sensitive 350-foot grub, Insectosaurus.

The meteorite contains Quantonium, a powerful substance sought after by evil alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) He sends an indestructible robot to earth to retrieve it, and the monsters are called on to save the world.

What makes the ensuing action amusing is that these goodhearted freaks aren't really hardwired to be heroes. They are far too nice, cute and witty to be truly monstrous - but that's the point: there's nothing wrong with being different.

3D effects add a welcome buzz to an otherwise average story, and the effects aren't as in-yer-face as expected so it's not too overwhelming for the little ones.

Though

Monsters vs. Aliens

can be seen in either 2D or 3D, it's worth making the effort to see it in 3D. Just remember, don't look down.

Francesca Rudkin

Voices by:

Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen

Director:

Conrad Vernon, Rob Letterman

Running Time:

94 mins

Rating:

PG (mild animated violence)