Monsters vs Aliens

First published on 30 Sep 2009. Updated on 25 Feb 2010.

Pixar can breathe easy. Monsters vs Aliens may be one of the best animated features of recent times, and certainly is more in DreamWorks' Shrek/Kung Fu Panda league than Bee Movie or Over the Hedge, but it's still very much a second string effort compared with the big P. Still, a smart script and great voice cast (Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen,Arrested Development's Will Arnett, Stephen Colbert and Kiefer Sutherland) make up for the jarring film references and over-wacky moments (look, the president's playing the alien theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind and then it turns into 'Axel F'! Hey hey! Remember popular films and music of the past? We do!).

The plot centres around Susan Murphy (Witherspoon), who becomes gigantic when she's struck by a meteor on her wedding day. The government take her into custody, imprisoning her with other monsters: the Missing Link (Arnett), the gelatinous BOB (Rogen), half-man-half-insect Dr Cockroach PhD (Laurie), and the giant beast Insectosaurus. This rag-tag team then become the Earth's only hope against the alien invader Gallaxhar (The Office's Rainn Wilson). The usual lessons of teamwork and accepting oneself are learned, while most jokes hit the mark. Production-wise, the animation is absolutely superb throughout, from the surface textures to the explosive whizzbangery.

The extras are impressive: as well as the usual making-of, commentary and deleted animatics that you'd probably expect, there's an entire bonus DVD containing the wonderfully entertaining short BOB's Big Break (in 3D, no less – four pairs of glasses are included, and it's also in non-3D if you can't be bothered) with extras including an interactive paddle game and a karaoke option that's a good deal funnier than you'd expect. Kids'll love it, and adults won't mind watching with them (or without them) either.

ExtrasBOB's Big Break disc, commentary, making-of, karaoke, animatics and more.