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Monsters Vs. Aliens: Animated Chucklefest for the Whole Family

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Rating: 8 out of 10

Sure, the title of this film betrays a certain type of long fought battle, both in classic films and popular culture, but underneath that is another battle currently raging in theaters all over the world, the battle for animation supremacy! It really stands between two animation giants, Pixar and Dreamworks Animation, with Disney goofily bouncing around on the outskirts trying to nudge its way back into prominence. Pixar has the upper hand right now in sheer quality in the picture-after-picture race, but Dreamworks has brought the smackdown in a big way with its mega-hit Shrek franchise (known in certain circles as the “Ogre who saved Dreamworks”) and its newest cartoon smash, Kung-Fu Panda, which completely swept last years Annie awards (the animation version of the Oscars), beating out the critically acclaimed Wall-E (although, that did go on to win the Oscar). Now Dreamworks is bringing a solid right hook punch with its newest release, Monsters Vs. Aliens, and taking a gander at the $58 million dollar opening weekend, it’s not a knockout blow, but ears are definitely ringing in the halls of Pixar. Does this mean one will eventually destroy the other? Certainly not. In actuality this is a wonderful thing because it forces both companies to work even harder to create better stories and better products for us, the happy and popcorn-covered viewers.

The story of Monsters Vs. Aliens centers around a young woman named Susan who is getting ready to walk down the aisle on the happiest day of her life, but it is drastically altered when an asteroid filled with Quantonium lands directly on top of her, causing her to grow with enormous strength and size. Quickly snatched up by the government she is placed in a secure underground facility where she meets the rest of her monstrous cohorts. Lucky for Susan and her new friends, an alien decides to invade and conquer Earth and this ragtag team of mutants is the only things that stands between Earth and total enslavement by a new squidgy overlord. (I was informed “squidgy” is not a real word and while that may be true, say it out loud, feel it in your spine, and you’ll catch my meaning.)

Drama! Conflict! Explosions! This has it all, but we all really know what we’re in the seats for: laughs! Written by an entire cadre of screenwriters, the script amazingly makes it to screen without feeling like a Jenga tower holding on for dear life. The throughline is tight, the purpose is well-plotted and the jokes are a quickfire barrage of humor both for the adults and the kids. My feeling is a good deal of the humor might be missed by the younger ones, but they’ll still be delighted and tickled by the animated characters themselves. What isn’t funny about a talking pile of blue goo?

The character designs and the excellent choices made in voice casting is where the movie really excels. The credits of this film read off like a who’s who of the comedy world, while also borrowing from some of the most popular shows on television today. Let me just lay them out for you (along with just one highlight of theirs): Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde), Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Hugh Laurie (House M.D.), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Kiefer Sutherland (24), Rainn Wilson (The Office), Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report), Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man), Julie White (Grace Under Fire), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), Amy Poelher (Baby Mama), Ed Helms (The Office), Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones’s Diary) and finally, John Krasinski (The Office). Seriously, that list is bordering on offensive with how much talent they amassed here. Some of them were only brought in for a few lines here and there, but the main cast of characters was incredibly well-chosen.

Witherspoon plays Susan, who is later renamed Ginormica, and she doesn’t get a lot of the laugh lines, but she drives the heart of the story and her “best friend/girl-next-door” voice helps land that perfectly. Rogen is a genius as the gelatinous nimrod known as B.O.B., who steals cinematic second after second until he finally peaks in a beautiful moment of romantic conquest (you’ll have to see it to figure that one out). Laurie takes on Dr. Cockroach Ph.D., which in itself is sheer typecasting since he really just gives us an old-timey version of Dr. House, who already borders on “mad scientist”. Arnett voices the Missing Link, who gets huge boosts from Arnett’s skill at playing the oblivious, but heartfelt. Sutherland walk easily into the role of General W.R. Monger, which is a personal favorite pun, and lets us listen for a moment what it would be like if Jack Bauer finally gained full control of the military. Wilson won the dubious pleasure of creating the sound of Gallaxhar, the multi-tentacled maniac who wants to take over the planet. I slowly began to wonder if his other character, Dwight on The Office, is hiding any other limbs or alien bits. Lastly, more for the adults in the audience who follow political spoof news, Colbert voices the President of the United States and is painfully perfect in every way, from his effort to sway the alien with a rendition of Alex F (theme song from Beverly Hills Cop, for those unschooled in the best of 80′s comedy films) to his reaction when noticing the nuclear launch button looks the same as his fresh latte button. It’s easy to see the characters were altered to fit the sound and personality of the cast, which usually means lazy casting or poor writing in the first place, but here it truly meant the marriage of two amazing things to bring something incredibly funny to the screen.

Recommendation: There weren’t any particular moments where I was knocked on the ground, clutching my belly full of giddy bliss, but there was a distinct constant rumbling of chuckles, guffaws, and outright laughter. This fits nicely into the family outing evening or afternoon and should be a film that sees a good lifespan in the theater and even better when it crashes onto DVD. I’ll also go out on a limb here and say little kiddies everywhere are going to be squeezing their own stuffed versions of Insectasorous or B.O.B. in the very near future. Hell, I might be one of them.

The Rocker: Comedy Rhythms with Heart

There it is, the first Papa Gino’s I ever ate at. Your first spaghetti basket will change your life.

This summer we have seen everything in the realm of comedy from forty-year-old children and weed fueled action heroes to bumbling super spies and blackfaced primadonnas. It has truly been the summer of high concept, but the audiences are just about ripe for something solid, something familiar and something just under the radar. Who knew it would come in the form of Dwight from The Office?

The Rocker follows the dream which never quite came true for our main character, Fish. He was the drummer in a band, but in order to rocket their career to unheard of levels, they had to drop him. Drop they did, and Fish dwindles into obscurity and ambivalence towards life itself. Twenty years later the universe smiles on him once more and he gets the chance to play drums in his nephew’s band. Through a series of pop culture twists and turns the band ends up becoming an overnight sensation and Fish runs wild through the fields of his waking dreams, while learning the lessons of what it really takes to be the member of a band, not a one man show. Of course, he is not the only one learning lessons, but he’s the main dude on the poster, you know how it goes.

Getting myself comfy in the cushioned theater chair, I was fully expecting a slapstick style, overgrown childhood movie with Rainn Wilson taking charge of the blundering and buffoonery, but what flickered on the screen in front of me was much more than prop jokes and prat falls. The Rocker sneaks by the chuckles and laughter and weasels into your heart with a subtly touching story and some really soft moments. Rainn does get hit by numerous objects and suffers more than his share of bodily harm, but he also never wavers from believing his dream is right and true, not some childhood fantasy. The more subtle comedic moments are left to Josh Gad, who plays his socially awkward nephew/keyboard player. Josh delivers more than a few times and his style felt oddly akin to Dan Fogler ala Balls of Fury, a kind of straight line delivery for a ludicrous line on the page. Rounding out the bandmates are Emma Stone and Teddy Geiger. Emma personifies the “i-hate-everyone-but-the-people-in-this-band” chick, while Teddy has no problem with his sensitive, soulful lead singer persona. For those who don’t already know, this is a touch into the area of typecasting since Teddy Geiger already has a wildly popular album called Underage Thinking and he lent his pop music talents to almost all the original music in the movie. Since they were able to write songs from the characters perspective and not just layer in current pop tracks, The Rocker tips gently into the genre of musical, because the songs actually investigate the emotional state of the characters and move the story along. Also, while Teddy is selling movie tickets and soundtracks, Emma Stone is doing what few actors, especially at the young age of twenty, get to do; open two movies in the same week! The Rocker beat it to the punch, but The House Bunny opens this coming Friday and Emma co-stars in that alongside and Anna Faris and Rumor Willis. It’s a one-two punch for the young ingenue who last charmed people as the girl of Seth’s dreams in Superbad.

Lending a hand to the laugh level were a number of cameos and side characters. Jason Sudeikis from SNL drops by to play the slimiest of record label agents in recent movie history. There are moments you want to punch him, but then you wonder what might get on your hands and if it would wash off later. Christina Applegate plays Teddy Geiger’s mom and tries to balance out the adult-to-child ratio in the mix. She does a decent job and has some truly biting lines (rebutting being called a MILF by replying with calling the man a PILS, you’ll have to see it to get the definition, but I think my best friend will be using it for the rest of her life). Demetri Martin also shows up as the epitome of pretentious, film school drop out, ultra hipster music video directors and it gave me a medium level of anxiety just imagining being on a set with a character like that.

This was honestly the last movie I had any inkling would stir any feelings beyond a bubbling chuckle in my belly, but there is a sweetness to the story and an honesty to the message. It all boils down to follow your dreams, no matter the cost. If that message is spoken faithfully, no matter what story you wrap it in, there will be some people in that audience walking out a little lighter in their step, just itching to get home and pull out their old hobbies, guitars, etc. Don’t get me wrong, this is no Rocky, I doubt many people will suddenly become rock stars after seeing this, but they might just get a tiny bit of inspiration from the best place possible; somewhere unexpected.

Recommendation: I was completely surprised by it, but I’m a sucker for a sweet story. Some good comedic moments, but they are outweighed and outnumbered by the more heartfelt ones. If you’re looking for down-and-out comedy, this might no be crude enough for you. Yet, if you want something simple, with a nice rhythm, this could be the right beat for your Saturday afternoon.

p.s. Christina Applegate also holds one of the best honors ever, being mentioned in the P.M. Dawn song, Set Adrift on Memory Bliss. Let’s be honest, where can you possibly go from there?

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