I was pretty thrilled to see this movie being available on Netflix since very little made by Dreamworks’ animation studio is interesting. After 20-plus years, they remain stuck in Pixar’s shadow, even with Pixar’s lesser stuff (Cars 1-3, Monsters University, the Good Dinosaur and Brave). This 2009 attempt shows my opinion of DW remains unchanged.
If you haven’t seen MvA, it’s not very deep. A young woman named Susan gets hit by a meteorite that makes her a giant. The government captures her, makes her part of a specialized group of monsters we keep in reserve to fight the unknown. In this case, an alien looking for the substance responsible for Susan’s new size.
It’s mostly padded with predictable jokes. Stephen Colbert is the only bright spot; he portrays a president who is really just a version of his old Colbert Report character. I’d throw in a couple touches of Bush II too since it was released in 2009.
The other element I didn’t like was how the humans were rendered. Somehow they felt off yet they bore some similarities to people from The Incredibles or Inside Out. It wasn’t the uncanny valley thankfully. I think it was their noses and too much blush around their cheeks and chins.
Anyway, chalk up MvA to being another 80-minute diversion to keep your kids busy while you do a chore or regain some sanity.