MONSTERS VS. ALIENS — ★★★1/2— Animated feature starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and others; shown in both the 2-D and 3-D format; rated PG (violence, vulgarity, brief drugs, mild profanity, slurs); in general release
There are times when "Monsters vs. Aliens" gets right up in your face.
In fact, one of the formats the new film is being shown in is 3-D, which means a few objects — such as a paddle ball, a few meteors and space debris — seem to pop right out of the screen and appear to be on a direct collision course with your face.
Thankfully, the effect is not used to the irksome degree of last year's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" remake, which was all gimmick and little else.
And instead, this animated, science-fiction/comedy has considerable charms and as much excitement in it as any cartoon feature since 2004's "The Incredibles."
(However, it should be noted that there are a few bits that might be a little intense or too suspenseful for really younger viewers.)
The film also has a first-rate voice cast. Reese Witherspoon provides the voice for Susan Murphy, who's about to marry her longtime sweetheart, would-be network news anchorman Derek Dietl (voiced by Paul Rudd).
Unfortunately, on her wedding day Susan appears to have been struck by a meteor. As it turns out, it was a close call, though radiation from the meteor has caused her to grow tenfold.
So the U.S. Army is sent in to capture Susan before she can cause any damage.
Now known as Ginormica, she's kept inside a top-secret facility that houses other so-called "monsters." They include Dr. Cockroach, PhD. (Hugh Laurie), the Missing Link (Will Arnett), an apelike amphibian, a big, blue blob like organism known as B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), and a much-larger beast, the caterpillar-like Insectosaurus.
Their captors set this bunch free, though, when squidlike alien conqueror Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) sets his sights on the Earth.
Gallaxhar sends a huge robotic drone down to the surface to do his dirty work. But Ginormica and the others are able to repel the first attack — though the Golden Gate Bridge is destroyed in the process.
The voice performers are clearly having fun. Witherspoon hasn't sounded this free and easy in years, and Stephen Colbert steals scenes as the voice of the U.S. president.
Also, the movie is peppered with bits that kids might not get but which their parents might enjoy (there are references to "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Beverly Hills Cop" and other movies).
And the brief but fun origin sequences for each of the monsters mirror classic sci-fi and horror movie moments (Susan's transformation is right out of "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman"; Dr. Cockroach's creation is virtually the same as "The Fly.")
"Monsters vs. Aliens" is rated PG and features animated sci-fi violence (creature attacks, laser blasts, explosive, fiery and vehicular mayhem, and some violence against women), some crude scatological references and other humor, brief drug content (tranquilizer darts), scattered mild profanity (mostly religiously based), and some derogatory language and slurs. Running time: 94 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com