Monsters vs. Aliens
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The Story
Drawing from the well of all those old, campy 50s and 60s sci-fi movies, “M v. A” tells the story of Susan (Reese Witherspoon), a woman hit by a meteor moments before her wedding. Before she can say “I do,” she finds herself 50 feet tall and then, quickly, locked up in a military facility for monsters.
Fellow inmates include gelatinous, indestructible, brainless B.O.B. (Seth Rogen); genius, man-sized Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie); the lizard/ape-like Missing Link (Will Arnett); and a 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus.
The group is given a shot at freedom when they agree to do battle with a giant menacing robot from outer space, but Susan soon realizes she’s lost her near-husband (Paul Rudd) and her old life. Worse, an alien mastermind has just arrived to drain her of her newfound power and take over the planet.
Content Issues
The PG-rated content includes some very mildly crude elements and one or two uses of God’s name for swearing, along with lots of animated action violence, some of it a little scary for younger tots.
Worldview Talking Points
Unlike nearly every digitally animated Pixar film and even the recent, dark “Coraline,” the more jokey, sitcom-ish Dreamworks Animation movies don’t offer many worldview issues to chew on.
Having said that, parents might find room to use the film to talk to younger teens about feeling different and out-of-place in the world. Such feelings are a big part of puberty, obviously. For some teens, it’s also natural to sometimes feel like their Christian faith makes them a kind of alien amongst their friends.
Of course, God’s Word calls all believers to stop fitting into the world’s culture and be transformed into something new and useful to God. (See Romans 12:1-3). And Peter called Christians aliens and strangers, encouraging us not to get too attached to life on this planet. (1 Peter 2:11)
Those ideas and a few of the following questions might provoke a bit of conversation after taking in this silly, 3D sci-fi goof.
- Did you like “Monsters vs. Aliens”? What are your 3 favorite animated movies?
- Which character was your favorite?
- Silly question: Which of the five monsters would you pick if you had to be that character for a whole week?
- What was your favorite moment when something seemed to jump out of the screen at you?
- Is there anything about you or your life that sometimes makes you feel like you don’t fit in? Are there any ways that thing can make you stronger or help you to do things other people can’t?
- Would you rather blend in or stand out in a crowd? Why?
- Why do you think the Bible tells us not to conform to the world? How are we supposed to “stick out”?
- What do you think it means when the Bible says that Christians are aliens in this life? Where is our “real” home?
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