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As the first 3-D offering from Dreamworks Animation Studios (Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda) – which promises to release all their films in three dimensions from this point on – Monsters vs. Aliens has a lot of expectations to live up to. And after my own viewing, I can safely say…nothing about that part of it, because unfortunately I only got to see it in dumb old regular 2-D. But luckily for me and everyone else not able to make it to a 3-D showing, Monsters vs. Aliens in any number of dimensions is an entertaining and often hilarious animated feature.

Though it won’t be remembered as any sort of classic, Monsters vs. Aliens is solid and consistently enjoyable. The best part about it is the uniformly funny voice cast, who are all allowed to be themselves but at the same time do not overshadow the story (Jack Black and Kung Fu Panda, I’m looking at you). If you are a fan of Seth Rogen, Rainn Wilson, Stephen Colbert or Will Arnett’s humor, you’ll no doubt laugh at their characters. Kiefer Sutherland takes a rare comedic turn with a nearly unrecognizable hardass impression as the monsters’ handler General W.R. Monger, Paul Rudd turns his usual charm into smarm as Susan/Ginormica’s weatherman fiancée and House himself Hugh Laurie seems to be having a ball as the maniacal Dr. Cockroach. Even Reese Witherspoon as the star of the show (and its straightwoman) earns her share of laughs.

As far as the story goes, it’s a pretty simple one but not necessarily unoriginal (and something you can no doubt gather from any of the film’s copious amounts of advertising). For my taste they could have played up the clichés of old sci-fi and alien invasion movies even more than they do, but too many jokes of that sort probably would have gone over kids’ heads. As it is the film is something that can appeal to all ages, a little bit of Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! mixed with clever sight gags and one liners that wouldn’t seem out of place in a classic Simpsons episode (no coincidence that two of the scribes are former writers for the animated sitcom). Moving along at a brisk clip and keeping the action up as much as the humor, I can honestly say the film never hits a dull patch; it could even have been a bit longer than its 90 someodd minutes.

Aside from one well worn bit at the beginning with a paddle ball, Monsters Vs. Aliens doesn’t utilize 3-D in a way that makes the 2-D version seem like its missing anything. Though whenever the “action scenes” start up there is admittedly a change in filming style that seems to cater to a look that would look a whole lot more neat-o with added depth, it doesn’t really play as a deficiency and is hardly ever distracting. And since the characters are all so funny, nobody should really feel cheated if all they get to see is the standard version. As ‘just’ a 2-D feature, Monsters vs. Aliens comes highly recommended, and I can only imagine that with the added bonus of an extra dimension (and/or on IMAX, as it is showing as such where available) this quality movie becomes even better, and about as good as it gets in the animation field until the next Pixar movie comes out in May.

- Jeff Latta