It's Mars Attacks all over again. The same premise, wasted. The same chances for comedy, missed. The same high quality of actors, once again squandered. Apparently, sci-fi parody is a tough genre to perfect. And for Dreamworks Animation this effort represents a rather large step back after Kung-Fu Panda. Monsters Vs. Aliens feels more like their mediocre Madagascar franchise, replete with pop-culture references, the most basic of plots, cardboard characters, and only the slightest suggestions of jokes that parents might actually laugh at. But, well, the kids seemed to like it.  ...read more