Monsters vs Aliens: ** (out of 4)

At least in theory, I like kids movies. Almost everybody agrees that Pixar is more than capable of making movies for kids that are still acceptable for adults; and at least some movies that Dreamworks has put out in the last few years (Kung-Fu Panda, Shrek 2) have been worth watching as well. But they put out plenty of drek too (Shrek 3 comes to mind), and so I generally try to be choosy in my kid-movie choices.

That choosiness goes out the air immediately, of course, when you've got a nine-year-old cousin to go with.

Monsters vs Aliens is the origin story of Susan the 50-Foot Woman. She gets her powers from a Mysterious Meteor on her wedding day; and then she is kidnapped and taken from her family to be held in a government facility. Eventually some aliens show up and she has to fight them with the help of her four friends. Hilarity ensues, and the government lets the team go. Then there are some explosions and touching character moments involving laser guns.
Finally, they all live happily ever after.

There you go. All done with the plot.

There are good points in there. Bob (voiced by Seth Rogen) is adorably stupid; Amy Poehler does a good job as a computer; and Stephen Colbert at least tries to do a good job as the POTUS. The fact that the big fight scene takes place in an extremely-recognizable San Francisco was worth a few points on its own. And... okay, that's all I remember. (And those were all overridden in my mind by the "yay, governmental kidnapping!" points...)

It was supposed to be a stupid but fun movie. It worked for my cousin; it didn't for me.

**