By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Jeffrey Katzenberg had good reason to be proud of the ``revolutionary'' technology behind DreamWorks' latest 3D animation movie. As for the story, it gives you exactly what you expect from something called ``Monsters vs. Aliens.'' The goofy, smartly rendered characters are great, but most of all, the 3D is spectacular ― the state of the art technology enhances the audiovisual experience, which is not always a successful endeavor in the industry.
The feature animation can be likened to ``The Incredibles,'' though the very ``vanilla'' humor of the Disney film is spiced up with crude humor. Like ``Shrek'' and other franchises by DreamWorks, the funny romp of ``Monsters'' is more appropriate for slightly ``older children.'' Adults will feel like big kids again as they cheer for unlikely heroes saving Earth from a big alien attack. A small downer is that the movie doesn't have that all-encompassing, universal appeal, and older audience members will appreciate it more.
``Monsters'' inspires nostalgia for the sci-fi flicks of the 1950s and 60s, with its affectionate and funny parodies of the familiar jelly blob aliens and even a riff of E.T. It's admirable, and even ironic, that a super expensive, futuristic technology is poured into reviving cheap retro franchises.
It tells the story of a young woman who, on her wedding day, is hit by extraterrestrial gunk and explodes into an almost 50-foot giant, kind of like 1958's ``Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.'' The U.S. military takes immediate notice and captures her. She's taken to a highly confidential center where she joins other extraordinary beings. When aliens attack Earth, however, this group of ``monsters'' becomes mankind's only hope.
The characters are adorable. You get everything from a cute, super sized caterpillar and a one-eyed, dumb gelatin blob named B.O.B., to a crazy scientist monster that laughs like a hysterical hyena and aliens that no doubt have a two-digit IQ even though they boast incredible technology. All these monsters and aliens move and breathe right before the audience's very eyes amid spectacular urban scenery.
While Han Ye-seul does a good job as the bride-turned-giant, it was disappointing to miss the subtle nuances of the original screenplay. In the original version, Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland and other talented actors provided the narration. Sutherland, who plays the grumpy general, visited Korea with Katzenberg for the Korean premiere last week, but strangely enough, the dubbed version was screened. It was unfortunate to be unable to hear what were probably wickedly funny jokes by the popular talk show host Stephen Colbert (yup, the guy who had that face-off with K-pop star Rain), who took part of the franchise as a rather silly American president.
In a recent interview, Katzenberg insisted, as he always does, that storytelling is the most important element behind the success of DreamWorks. While it is obvious that the film is trying to be like a B-movie, the screenplay was slightly too B-rate, however, and even though the visuals are spectacular, the color scheme seemed a tad unnatural. But all in all, it offers what you expect from Hollywood entertainment.
In theaters April 23. There will be 3D dubbed, 3D subtitled, 2D dubbed and 2D subtitled versions available in theaters. Polarized glasses will be distributed for 3D screenings. 94 minutes. All ages admitted.