On the day of her wedding, Susan (voiced by Witherspoon) has a close encounter with a meteor that causes her to grow exponentially. She's taken to a secret government facility, where General Monger (Sutherland) renames her Ginormica and locks her up with other secreted monsters: blobby BOB (Rogen), mad scientist Dr Cockroach (Haurie), fish-man Link (Arnett) and the enormous Insectosaurus. But the interstellar alien villain Gallaxhar (Wilson) has a plan to destroy the earth. And the President (Colbert) has no choice but to release the monsters to take him on.

The script is a riot of fast dialog, witty film references and characters who fairly burst with personality quirks. All of them are superbly well-voiced by the cast and, combined with the especially inventive animation, keep us laughing fairly continuously from start to finish with the constant collision of verbal and visual gags. The imagery is especially clever, with a refreshingly stylised design that makes good (but not great) use of the 3D effects.

But it's the story and personalities that really keep us hooked, as the plot works on several levels as a government conspiracy comedy (a la Men in Black), an alien invasion movie (Independence Day) and even a coming-of-age film, as the monsters find their place in society. The filmmakers also acknowledge their place in movie history with witty nods to all kinds of sci-fi films; for example, all of the monsters can trace their origins to genre classics.

These touches help make up for the general thinness of the film, which doesn't have much of a message besides that we should stand up for ourselves and be loyal to our friends. But the level of humour is surprisingly sophisticated, with potent political jabs, sharp social commentary and even a subtle touch of diversity and acceptance. None of that stuff really matters in a film as much fun as this, but it gives it an extra kick that makes us want more.

themes, violence, innuendo

8.Mar.09