Monsters vs Aliens (2009, Letterman & Vernon)

"Boys, set the terror level at code brown, 'cause I need to change my pants." -The President of the United States, Monsters vs Aliens (2009)

Not exactly the height of comedic dialogue, and to put it simply, it’s no Shrek. Hell, it’s no Shrek the Third. With Monsters vs Aliens, Dreamworks proves that their Shrek films have been an anomaly, and that Pixar still reigns supreme in the computer-animated genre with little significant competition.

What’s mind-blowing about Monsters vs Aliens is the cast. It’s like a who’s who of comedy today, and includes everyone from Seth Rogen to Paul Rudd to Rainn Wilson to Will Arnett to Stephen Colbert. For pedigree, there’s everyone’s favorite girl-next-door Reese Witherspoon, House’s Hugh Laurie, and Keifer Sutherland doing a fantastic R. Lee Ermey impersonation. But I can’t for the life of me figure out how such a stellar cast was assembled for this project— because it obviously wasn’t a result of the material. And therein lies the problem.

There are a few chuckles here and there and one semi-interesting action set-piece. Reese Witherspoon’s 50’s-era housewife has a character arc involving learning to stand up for herself instead of in her husband’s shadow that riffs nicely off of the source material Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. The other characters include Will Arnett’s The Missing Link (Creature from the Black Lagoon), Seth Rogen’s B.O.B (The Blob), and Hugh Laurie’s Dr. Cockroach PhD (The Fly). But the high-concept and the monster-movie-inspired characters offer up so many rich story possibilities and details which go unexplored or undeveloped, that for every smart idea which actually made it into the script is a treasure trove of unused material.

In fact, the movie is so underwhelming that I began to imagine the script had originally been intended as live action, and how much more exciting it would have been to see a chase around the streets of San Francisco if it had actually been done with live actors and real sets. It’s never a good thing when a movie is so boring that you’re imagining a better version of it while watching the film on a first viewing. The sharp color palette and the 3D computer animation were probably the only things keeping my attention, and I think seeing a non-3D print would have been a coma-inducing experience, taking away the best element the movie had to offer. Of course, if you catch it on DVD or Blue-Ray, it won’t be in 3D.

The film suffers most in its third act, which feels like a clichéd, harried ending more fitting as the final act of some kiddie animation produced for Saturday morning television. It loses any of the meager pop and excitement it had going for it and just quietly fizzles out at the end of its very short running time.

If Dreamworks wants to be able to compete with Pixar, they need to realize that sharp, crisp animation isn’t everything; and that the most important element in Pixar's outstanding films are the intelligently-written, visually and emotionally-textured scripts where ideas have been developed and layered, and characters have truly been given life.

4/10

Star Trek (2009, Abrams)

"These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before." -Spock-Prime, Star Trek (2009)

J.J. Abrams & co-producer Damon Lindelof are a very pop-culture savvy pair, and an enormous amount of credit is due to them for their ability to take a dying American franchise and to not only reinvigorate it, but by doing so to permanently install it as timeless American iconography.

Lindelof may have only been a co-producer on the maiden voyage of this new outing, but he's already at work co-writing the sequel with screenwriters Orci & Kurtzman. Nevertheless, Orci & Kurtzman have gone on record to say that this first new Trek film still carries Abrams and Lindelof's fingerprints all over the script development process, and I think it's obvious that the central idea behind the franchise reboot probably owes its genesis to Lindelof's work at Marvel Comics on Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk.

Marvel's Ultimate line is essentially a modernization of their characters for a new generation. Marvel and their competition at DC seem to do this every 10-20 years or so, and the Ultimates is the latest retcon at "the House of Ideas." Essentially it's a way to throw out clunky old continuity while preserving what works, revitalize classic story arcs with new variations, spin characterizations in different directions, and generally freshen up something that may be aging past its current shelf life. It's also a way to simply start over and attract a new readership with a fresh and shiny beginning devoid of decades of attached history. And when it's done right, with talented creators behind it, the old fans line up as well-- excited at the new life that has been breathed into characters dear to their hearts, and interested to follow a new journey that may share some parallels to what went before, but which may also diverge into unexpectedly different directions.

And of course, this also perfectly describes the new Star Trek film. Abrams and Lindelof have been very savvy with how they've gone about it-- using Leonard Nimoy as fan-favorite Spock to not only midwife this new reinterpretation into existence, but to seal the entire project with a stamp of approval. In addition to revitalizing Star Trek, this strategy immortalizes it. No longer is history stuck with one interpretation of Spock, Kirk, or likely Khan... but the characters are transformed into archetypal icons that can be reinterpreted and passed down from generation to generation, much like we've see happen within comic-dom and across media with the likes of Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men. Captain Kirk is no longer just William Shatner; Captain Kirk is now simply Captain Kirk. And ironically, by doing this, Abrams and Lindelof will likely also generate more interest in the original Star Trek than simply continuing on with more flaccid sequels ever would have. Because now as new sequels and iterations are able to capture the zeitgeist, fascinated and curious audiences will always be able to go back and re-discover the original interpretations of the characters that started it all. And everything old will be new again once more.

As for the new film itself, it's certainly not flawless... but then again, no Star Trek film ever was. There are a few over-the-top attempts at crowd-pleasing that probably go too far, and a whole new generation of Trek fans is already debating things like the validity of Spock's justification in jettisoning Kirk in a safety pod down to a Hoth-like planet home to some large, predatory creatures ("... but the automated message in the pod told him to wait there for Starfleet to pick him up!").

But damn it, it's fun. The new film captures an excitement and a visceral crackle that no prior Trek film has ever quite achieved. Part of this is simply due to film technology being more advanced than it was at the time when other standouts in the series like The Wrath of Khan and First Contact were produced. The Onion even ran a story with the headline "Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film as 'Fun, Watchable'." But at the same time, it's reverential of its characters while reinventing them. Every classic core Trek character gets to steal at least a scene or two. And in typical Abrams' fashion, the casting is inspired and spot-on across the board, and all of the actors do a fantastic job in their roles. From Karl Urban's interpretation of McCoy's brash and bitter attitude, to Chekov's battle with his accent so that the ship's computer can understand him, to Sulu demonstrating his badass fencing skills-- the reintroduction of all of the classic characters and elements is done with tremendous energy and success. On top of that, Abrams finds a way to include everything from big, high-energy moments like Kirk's encounter with the aforementioned nasty alien predators on a Hoth-like ice planet (Abrams and Lindelof love their Star Wars, of which there are more than a few nods throughout) to more character-driven, broader, humorous moments like McCoy following Kirk around the ship and repeatedly inoculating him, or Kirk's infamous defeat of the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Abrams even finds a way to sneak in his beloved Red Matter MacGuffin. There's such a variety of invention throughout the film, that the leanness of the story never becomes much of an issue, especially when countered with the forward-positioning for future installments.

And with Lindelof on board the sequel as a co-writer and not just a co-producer, any lingering doubts or minor quibbles and worries should be provided their salve. At the end of the day, not only is Star Trek pure, unadulterated fun, but it's also ripe with the promise of future voyages that look very bright for the first time in years.

9/10