Monsters vs Aliens
Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 35
  3. Negative: 3 out of 35
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    3-D is a distraction and an annoyance.
  2. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    Monsters vs. Aliens suffers from the common 3D problems: dim lighting, poor focus in fast-paced action sequences, and too many distractions for the movie to grab the viewer.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    25
    Dreamworks Animation's clunky and wildly unimaginative Monsters vs. Aliens really doesn't have a clue what to do with the [3-D] technique.
  4. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    63
    "WALL-E" had more charm, more soul, more everything. But there's enough merry mischief here to satisfy, even if you’re way past puberty.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    The movie is reasonably entertaining, though it helps to be 6 years old.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    The movie works hard -- desperately hard -- to be all things to all audience segments. And the visible effort erodes the sense of gaiety, of unfettered fun.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    63
    If you have to see Monsters vs. Aliens - and if you're a parent, you will have to - make sure it's the 3-D version.
  8. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    40
    The biggest battle in Monsters vs. Aliens is banality vs. originality, and banality carries the day.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    75
    Dazzling colors, winning characters and energetic visual effects all work in concert, with the 3-D animation serving to intensify the experience.
  10. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    Full disclosure: I saw Monsters vs. Aliens in 2-D. No dorky plastic glasses, no alien ooze flying at my head. More full disclosure: I liked it.
  11. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    75
    The movie may best be appreciated by people who know the references. All five monsters come from low-budget science fiction films of the 1950s.
  12. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    75
    My favorite voice/animation combo, however, is Stephen Colbert's very terrestrial president of the United States.
  13. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    83
    Pure, light entertainment.
  14. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    50
    The movie is curiously unmemorable, partly because nearly all of its humor depends on your having seen something like it before, even if you haven't.
  15. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    50
    Despite the 3-D gadgetry, there's a musty odour to the script.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    70
    A film of chuckles, smiles and light amusement rather than big laughs, galvanizing excitement and original invention.
  17. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    38
    It's tough to get on board with these monsters. They don't get the banter they--or we--deserve, and the screenwriters lean on wearying stereotypes.
  18. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    38
    Will pop your eyes without tickling your funny bone.
  19. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    50
    Even in 3D, as the picture is being shown in some theaters -- Ginormica is a disappointingly flat character.
  20. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    There is a nice mix of action with tender moments -- especially among the misfit monsters
  21. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    50
    Has bells and whistles, superb technical sophistication and dazzling visual effects, sound, fury and Reese Witherspoon. What it doesn't have is heart. Like so many vehicles that have popped out from the DreamWorks Animation snark tank, Monsters vs. Aliens is too clever by half.
  22. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    50
    This action-comedy will seem fresh only to 8-year-olds -- though it may give parents an excuse to introduce some of the '50s horror movies it parodies.
  23. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    70
    Another crowd-pleasing, expert-babysitting vaudeville turn.
  24. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    40
    The misfits, as ever, must take a back seat to the morality, and the result – while in no way migraine-inducing – traffics in rote truisms.
  25. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: Anthony Lane
    50
    As I took off my gray-lensed 3-D spectacles at the end of Monsters vs. Aliens, I felt not so much immersed as fuzzy with exhaustion. What I had seen struck me less as a herald of shining possibility than as a thrill ride back to the future--back, that is, to an idea of the future, and a stale one at that.
  26. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    67
    On some level, the latest DreamWorks CGI project isn't a movie so much as a gag-delivery system wrapped in special effects. The story is crammed with incident, yet completely trifling; there are a ton of personalities, but no real characters.
  27. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    70
    Children won't get the references to atomic-age monster movies, but the film offers more than nostalgia: there are slyly funny performances by Seth Rogen as an omnivorous blue blob and Stephen Colbert as the U.S. president, who faces down, and then flees, an alien invasion.
  28. Empire
    Reviewed by: Kim Newman
    80
    Yayyyy, monsters!
  29. NPR
    Reviewed by: Bob Mondello
    55
    After a while, you can see the setups happening -- and once you do, the careening gets predictable. Which gets old, really fast.
  30. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Eric Campos
    60
    The 3D visuals are an enormous part of MVA's experience and they also help to cover up the lackluster “comedy.”
  31. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Perry Seibert
    75
    This is a lean 90 minutes, packed with laughs and age-appropriate thrills -- not to mention a solid lesson for girls about self-respect.
  32. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    75
    This is a pleasure to watch for everyone.
  33. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    80
    The grandeur of the effects--the honest-to-God spectacle of the thing--elevates Monsters vs. Aliens to something approaching art. It's not a masterpiece, but it's most certainly a milestone.
  34. Slate
    Reviewed by: Jessica Winter
    80
    The richly multilayered picture tends to have a gently immersive effect, akin to a stroll through the world's most expensive diorama.
  35. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    70
    In fact "nice" is the adjective that seems to surface most in trying to pin down the film's most salient quality, which means that while the film is enjoyable enough, it is unlikely to become a classic for us, or a "Shrek" sort of franchise for DreamWorks.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 125 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 59
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 59
  3. Negative: 9 out of 59
  1. grandpajoe6191
    5
    Occasionally funny at times, but ultimately "Monsters vs. Aliens" is your average road-to-hero Dream works animation movie.
  2. TheQuietGamer
    6
    This movie is good for kids, but adults will be bored, the plot isn't all that great and the characters are ok, but there perfectly good for a kids movie, all in all I would recommend this for a rental, but don't expect much of a reason to watch it again.… Full Review »
  3. GavinC.
    5
    Although occasionally coming up with a spark of enjoyment, M vs A's plot is bland and the laughs it inspires are almost always forced.
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