Susan And Company

I saw Monsters vs. Aliens over the weekend. It was enjoyable, but if you want to see something with a similar subject that's really inspired, watch The Incredibles. MVA had laughs, but not quite enough. It had more action than I expected, but not done as well as it could have been. And the villain, Gallaxhar (voiced by Rainn Wilson), was not as formidable as he should have been. Since Dreamworks' animated feature from 2008, Kung Fu Panda, was better than expected, it was all the more disappointing when MVA didn't live up to its potential.

 

The story, to my surprise, isn't truly an ensemble piece. Instead it concentrates on Susan Murphy, aka Ginormica, the 50-Foot Woman (voiced by Reese Witherspoon). We see her grow inside as well as out, learning to be strong and independent. In addition to the female empowerment angle, there's a plea for tolerance, monsters being misfits and all. Luckily, the messages weren't so heavy-handed that they got in the way.

There were a lot of homages to classic (and classically bad) monster movies, but while that's nice icing, I'd have preferred a better cake.

PS See it in 3-D if you can.

PPS On The B-52's debut album, "Planet Claire" is credited to Fred Schneider and Keith Strickland. I noticed in the MVA credits that Henry Mancini is now in the mix. That's only fair, since the song very clearly uses his "Peter Gunn Theme."

PPPS When Dr. Cockroach attempts to shrink Susan, she says something like "I hope I can be normal again, or at least six-foot-eight." The movie is selling millions of tickets. There's an excellent chance at least one six-foot-eight woman will see it. How is she gonna feel?