The IMAX Experience - MONSTERS VS. ALIENS in 3D

It’s hard to love a movie that as filled with so many over stuffed clichés as MONSTERS VS. ALIENS but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t at least a fun and entertaining film. It was a novel idea to do a animated monster film as it hasn’t been done since Monsters, Inc. so audiences aren’t tired of them just yet. With over five writers to its credit the film comes off as being too over written and formulaic as we follow Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) who is turned into a 49’ 11” tall women by a unknown meteor. She is then captured by the government and hidden away in a secret government facility run by General Monger (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland), whom has captured several monsters over the years and hidden them away from the public eye. These monsters include B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), an artificially created lifeform with no brain, Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), a former scientist who accidentally turned himself into a cockroach during an experiment, and The Missing Link (Will Arnett), who was thawed out of a piece of ice and has wrecked havoc ever since. If you don’t already see all the references to ‘50s B-movies yet then shame on you as the film is filled with ‘50s references as well as references to all manner of sci-fi and pop-culture films from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to Beverly Hills Cop to Godzilla and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.

Most of the references will be lost on younger audiences but people with a great appreciation of films will recognize most if not all of the references, which is the film’s biggest problem. It has so many references to other films that it never seems to have a mind of its own and everything from plot to character to story seems like something lifted from something else. Having seen the film on an IMAX screen in 3D I was able to forgive many of the films’ problems as I thoroughly enjoy watching films in digital 3D in the IMAX format. Somehow it makes many films better then they should be (i.e. when I saw The Day The Earth Stood Still on an IMAX screen). I’m sure that when and if I see the film again I won’t have the same experience.

Children will enjoy the film (especially those that loved Monsters, Inc.) but after the novelty of the 3D wears off and you’ve had enough of memory lane with the film references most older audiences may not enjoy the film as much as they wanted to. I will say that the antics of B.O.B. and The President (as voiced by Stephen Colbert) are some of the best in the film and recommended for this alone.

HANCOCK on the IMAX

For a film that’s meant to be bigger then life the new Will Smith film HANCOCK does not translate over as well to the IMAX format. Don’t get me wrong, the film HANCOCK is the best comic book genre film of the summer easily surpassing the timid IRON MAN and THE INCREDIBLE HULK and several others simply because it tried to do something different then all the other superhero films made thus far (in the wake of the superhero film boom).

There’s a joke that my friends have told me a hundred times while growing up in reference to the fact that why doesn’t Superman just throw Lex Luther into space to ultimately be rid of his arch nemesis. Back when Superman was the most popular franchise of films Luther kept coming back and Superman kept putting him back into jail leaving many people to believe that there really is no originality in the superhero genre film anymore. They are all pretty basic and predictable (thus my lack of appreciation of either of this years Marvel film adaptations). Seeing Superman throw Luther into outer space thus killing him is completely unpredictable and would rid Superman from his otherwise bland villain and allow the filmmakers to explore other aspects of the character (although I love the film SUPERMAN RETURNS it’s anything but original). A little more of this “unpredictability” is needed in the new crop of superhero films or they will all become timid exercises of studios just wanting to make a quick buck with great SFX-expensive films.

Bringing focus back to HANCOCK, this film is anything but predictable as there are many plot turns in the film that are unexpected and the film is genuinely funny from beginning to end. The humor is derived from character rather then bad jokes (i.e. IRON MAN). There is great drama between all the main characters but not too much to be a distraction (i.e. either version of HULK films) and the action is top notch. A lot of this goes to the excellent script by Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan, who worked on “The X-Files” and “The Lone Gunmen” television series (which is probably why the script is so strong in both action, drama, and humor). Lets not forget the actors, either, as Smith, Charlize Theron, and Jason Bateman have great chemistry on film which is brought to glorious life by director Peter Berg (THE RUNDOWN, THE KINGDOM), a director great at mixing and balancing both action and humor.

The only thing that disappointed me is that the film really wasn’t as dynamic on the IMAX format screen as many of the other films I’d already seen. Having viewed such films as SPIDER-MAN 3, SPEED RACER, and U2 3D on the IMAX (which were all an astounding theatre going experience), HANCOCK was just…well, HANCOCK. It’s the first film I’ve viewed on this format that wasn’t truly a great experience which is okay since the quality of the film more then made up for this mishap. Unlike viewing U2 3D (which costs a whopping $16.00 on the IMAX), HANCOCK was much cheaper (at only $12.00 which is only a $2.00 difference from the regular screens) so I didn’t feel like I was cheated too much. I do recommend this film as one of the highlights of the summer but just don’t bother watching it on the IMAX unless, of course, you’ve just never seen a film on the format before.