Monsters vs. Aliens: All-Star, Gee-Whiz Fun—in 3-D!

Review in a Hurry: In this freaky, fun but formulaic smackdown, the U.S. army uses sci-fi mutants to battle ETs intent on invading our planet. The bigger-than-life concept, out-of-this-world voice cast (led by Reese Witherspon) and eye-gouging 3-D visuals make MvA worth attacking.
The Bigger Picture: Poor Susan Murphy (Witherspoon). On the day of her wedding to weatherman Derek Dietl (the ubiquitous Paul Rudd), the California brunette gets hit by a radioactive meteorite (hate it when that happens), which turns her into a 50-foot giant with peroxide hair (hate that, too).
Susan is nabbed by the military, renamed Ginormica and locked away in a secret government compound, where—in a nod to '50s B movies—she meets and befriends a clawful of mutated misfits. She finally gets a chance at freedom by agreeing to fight (along with her fellow freaks) Earth-attacking aliens led by googly-eyed Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson).
All this leads to some whiz-bang set pieces with exciting—but family-friendly—action, notably a midway showdown on the Golden Gate Bridge. Attempts to probe your funny bone are more hit-and-miss, with a script that injects limp pop-culture references and shows strain at its development seams (not a surprise, given the six credited writers and Xenu knows how many others).
With her spunky, sexy delivery, Witherspoon proves she might have an action-heroine career yet. Seth Rogen, though still trading on his amiable stoner schtick, earns chuckles as blue blob B.O.B., and Hugh Laurie is deliciously diabolical as The Fly-inspired scientist Dr. Cockroach.
But as with many 3-D movies, the flash is more impressive than the substance. The DreamWorks animated adventure ultimately lacks the originality of a Pixar pic or the creative kick of last year's Kung Fu Panda, so let's hope that in future 3-D releases—many more comin' at ya, literally!—the storytelling will be as innovative as the technology.
The 180—a Second Opinion: A climactic sequence relies on a tired gag about Dance Dance Revolution. Really? DDR is sooo light-years ago.