by: Anghus Houvouras

Monsters vs. Aliens
a DreamWorks Animation film
3 stars (out of 5)

Cartoons weren’t always so boring. Over the years the collective conservative masses have reduced a once-viable creative genre into kiddie-safe animation without an ounce of character or originality. Physical comedy was once very much at the center of cartoons. Yet, long gone are the days of watching Daffy Duck getting shot in the face with a double-barreled shotgun.

I bring this up because Monsters Vs. Aliens is a spectacular little larf of an animated film with its creative roots in the right place. It’s big, it’s bright, and it’s chock-full of slapstick comedy. It’s the kind of animated film of which I wish we saw more. For the first time in eons, it feels like the people churning out these computer-animated spectacles get it.

When I go see a cartoon, I like it being a little over the top. I grew up weened on the antics of the Looney Toons. Not those worthless Disney characters who always had cute problems to overcome like trying to bake a cake to bring to one of the female characters who looked eerily like their male counterparts. Mickey Mouse is, sorry to say, a worthless dope crafted by a corporation into a billion-dollar hood ornament.

For me, I preferred the Warner Brothers characters because, let’s face it, they were far more awesome. Bugs Bunny facing off against Elmer Fudd. The Coyote and his endless self-destructive war he waged against the Roadrunner. Truly, they embodied everything great about cartoons: copious amounts of violence and comedy intertwined into a pugilistic treat. (To be fair, the Warner Brothers cartoon characters have been equally whored out by their corporate masters. Every time I see a commercial featuring Bugs Bunny or the Roadrunner trying to sell me on the finer points of Time Warner Cable, I die a little inside.)

Let’s face it: The cartoons have been stripped, shaved, and turned into marketing puppets to sell us wares. While I don’t think we’ll ever get the classic cartoon back, Monsters Vs. Aliens does a good job of reminding audiences of the fun that can be had watching silly creatures getting the snot knocked out of them. Abandoning all sense of reality, the quirky plot revolves around the lovely Susan (Reese Witherspoon). On her wedding day, she is struck by a glowing asteroid that transforms her to the size of a small skyscraper. Before she has a chance to figure out up from down, the United States military arrives to do what they do best: cover up conspiracies and try to recruit her for part of their super-secret organization of monsters. It’s ludicrous in the best way possible.

The group is made up of Link (Will Arnett), a merman reminiscent of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. There’s Doctor Cockroach, Ph. D. (Hugh Laurie), the smartest cockroach on the planet, and by far the best character of the film, B.O.B., is a gelatinous mass of goo voiced by Seth Rogen. Rogen was tailor made for this kind of voice work. Every line B.O.B. delivers is worth a couple of laughs. Sign me up for a B.O.B. sequel.

Susan joins these hilarious outcasts just in time for an alien invasion. A giant mechanized robot arrives and begins to tear through San Francisco like a game of Jenga played on the San Andreas fault. Our heroes are called into action with amusing results. The alien leader is a silly creature, a more manic version of Marvin the Martian. There’s no real dread here—it’s all played for yucks. Sure, they throw in some adorable subplot about staying true to one’s identity. But they also throw in some good one-liners that will go way over the heads of the core audience.

I think the biggest difference between the Disney/Pixar releases and Dreamworks Animation (the studio that made Monsters Vs. Aliens) is a fundamental and creative line drawn in the sand. Pixar seems intent on crafting grandiose worlds and breaking new ground, where Dreamworks puts out simple stories that lack complexity but are far more entertaining in the short term. Sure, I doubt I’ll ever revisit Monsters Vs. Aliens, but it did what a good cartoon is supposed to do: It entertained, it provided visual thrills, and it made me laugh. Sometimes, that’s enough.

* * *

Reel to Reel: A few must-sees this week

Lumina Theater
UNCW, Fisher Student Center
910-962-2900
Shows at 7pm, free

• April 13th, 2009
Searching for Angela Shelton
Filmmaker Angela Shelton travels the United States, meeting 40 other women with her name, in this enlightening documentary. She discovers that 24 out of 40 Angela Sheltons she meets have been abused, like herself. This film spotlights resilient, courageous women—all named Angela Shelton. The movie garnered Best Documentary audience awards at both Asheville and Austin film festivals. No rating.

• April 14th, 2009
Planet in Peril, Part 1
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper; CNN’s chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta; and “Animal Planet” host and wildlife biologist Jeff Corwin take viewers around the globe for a two-part documentary on the threats to the world’s environment.
Planet in Peril was filmed in 13 countries, uncovering places where environmental change is not a theory or a future forecast but a crisis happening in real time.

Cinematique
310 Chestnut Street • Thalian Hall
910-343-1640
Shows at 7:30pm, $7

• March April 13th-15th, 2009
The Class
Screenplay based on the book by real-life teacher François Bégaudeau, who also stars in the film. An absorbing journey into a multicultural high school in Paris over the course of a school year. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. PG-13

[Browse movie listings and buy tickets at www.encorepub.com.]