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Monsters vs. Aliens | 2009 | PG | - 2.3.2

In this animated feature, on her wedding day a woman is struck by a meteor containing a compound that causes her to grow to enormous proportions. The government speeds her to a top secret facility where she and other "monsters" will be held forever. These plans are quickly thwarted when an alien arrives on Earth in search of the compound and will stop at nothing to get it. With the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland and Stephen Colbert. Directed by Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman. [1:34]

SEX/NUDITY 2 - A man makes photocopies of several items, and then sits on a scanner with his pants down (we see his bare hip and buttock side with a small tattoo on it). As a woman grows larger from exposure to an alien compound, her dress tears away revealing bare legs and shoulders. A woman wears form-fitting suits in most scenes throughout the movie.
 A nearly 50-foot tall woman kisses a normal sized man and we see his head being enveloped by her lips. A man and a woman park, the woman moves close to the man and tries to kiss him, and he pushes her away.
 Two monsters talk about whether a human is male or female and one points and says "boobies," then says that because the human has them that makes it a boy. While talking a man holds his hands in such a way that it is implied that he is making a reference to breasts. A gelatinous monster flirts with a Jell-o mold salad. A monster makes comments to a man as if they had been dating and are now breaking up.

VIOLENCE/GORE 3 - A huge metal vessel with one large "eye" stands in the middle of a desert, armed men approach it, one man climbs a long flight of stairs to try to communicate with it, it starts to move, the man runs and dives out of the way, and the armed men open fire on it.
 One monster is a part ape/part fish creature, one monster is a cockroach man and one monster is a gelatinous blue glob. An alien is a squid-like creature with four eyes and tentacles, which it uses as legs and hands, and it clones itself many times so there are hundreds of them.
 A monster shoots an alien and we hear a splat and see the alien lying motionless. Several monsters fight with many aliens and a few aliens are shot, and others are thrown. An enormous insect is struck by a blast from an alien ship, it falls to the ground, its eyes slowly close and it is implied that it is dead (another monster grieves by its side).
 A nearly-50 foot tall woman struggles to stop an alien vessel from destroying the Golden Gate Bridge and sending into the water; the vessel uses a large clamp to try to pick her up, and she presses it open and frees herself. An alien vessel chases a nearly 50-foot tall woman through city streets, buildings are damaged, and she dangles from a gutter and is afraid of falling (she is only a couple of feet off the ground). A large alien vessel begins to break up the Golden Gate bridge, cars teeter on the road surface and nearly fall in the water below, a nearly 50-foot tall woman tries to stop it, and she slips and nearly falls into the alien vessel "mouth." where there are whirring metal "teeth." A nearly 50-foot tall woman is shot in the leg with a hypodermic needle containing a sedative, she pulls the needle out, throws it to the ground where is stabs a normal sized man's foot (he screams), and she then collapses unconscious. A nearly 50-foot tall woman breaks through many steel security doors while chasing an alien. A woman glows green after having been exposed to an alien compound, she begins to grow, pushes through the roof of a building where many people are gathered, a beam falls and lands on a man (he's OK), and people run out screaming. A nearly 50-foot tall woman is jolted by electricity (we see her hair standing on end and smoldering) but she's OK. A nearly 50-foot tall woman picks a man up by the jacket and flicks him with her finger; he flies through the air, and then falls down and is caught by a monster that spits him out covered with slime. A nearly 50-foot tall woman kicks a shelter where a monster is sitting and the monster is thrown into the air.
 An alien grabs a woman by the throat and holds her off the ground. A monster jumps and crashes into the side of an alien vessel, it is shocked by a force field and is thrown (it is OK). A monster absorbs a woman and then spits her out (we see her covered with slime). A woman is imprisoned in a cage with a force field around it; she tries to get out and is shocked.
 A star explodes, fragments spread through space, one piece speeds toward Earth and we see it falling toward a woman on the ground, and it crashes into the ground (we hear a loud noise and see the woman uninjured but covered with dirt). A huge ball of flame crashes into the ground, a man and a woman go to investigate, and the man trips over a fence and breaks his ankle (we see his foot twisted in an unnatural direction and he moans). A bridge collapses, and part of the metal structure falls onto an alien vessel and it destroys it. A huge space station self-destructs (there is a large explosion). A plane is shot down, it crashes and we see the two people in the plane after they have ejected. A nearly 50 foot tall woman accidentally swats a helicopter out of the air, and we see a plume of black smoke.
 An alien holds a gun on a woman. A man is struck in the neck with a tranquilizer dart and falls back off screen. A woman screams when she sees a cockroach creature, and she swings at it with a spoon trying to kill it.
 The image of an alien is projected into the sky and tells many people standing on the ground below that "We are here to destroy you," and "Take over your planet," and it threatens death and slavery. A woman is told that she will never be free again. An alien orders that a woman be incinerated (she is not). A reference is made to someone dying of a heart attack.
 A man reaches into another man's pants and pulls up his underwear giving the man a wedgie. A monster jumps on a diving board, misses the board, crashes into the deck and falls into the water.
 A nearly 50-foot tall woman skateboards using two full sized cars on her feet. A nearly 50-foot tall woman is captured in a glass chamber and we see her begin to shrink. A woman wakes up in a cell and is frightened.
 A man accidentally presses a button that launches nuclear weapons, sirens blare, lights flash and he instructs people to seek shelter. Two men in a monitoring station panic when they see an object speeding toward Earth. A huge monster breaks out of a cocoon and flies away as a butterfly.
 There are a few 3-D effects: We fly through the rock strewn rings of Saturn, a man plays with a paddle ball and the ball stretches toward the audience, and an enormous insect sneezes and green goo spurts toward the audience. An alien drinks a hot beverage and spits it out at the audience.
 A huge insect squirts slime out of its nostril in a few scenes: One scene shows the goo attaching itself to a woman's leg and pulling her away from a beam that is taking her up into a vessel, and another shows the goo blown onto an alien vessel's "eye." A huge insect licks a plate glass window and we see slime. A glob of goo is splattered onto a table and a spoon is dropped into it. A monster can absorb anything that touches it: we see it playing catch, it accidentally pulls its eyeball out and bounces it against a wall, and then absorbs it when it bounces back into him.
 A reference is made to a man "pooping in his pants." A monster says that another monster is going to urinate on itself because it is scared. A monster's eyes are bloodshot and red from chlorine in pool water.
 A woman has one thumb shorter than the other and another woman seems alarmed when she sees this.

LANGUAGE 2 - 2 mild scatological terms, 1 mild anatomical term, a character exclaims "what the flagnart," name-calling (quack, idiot), 4 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A woman breathes from an inhaler after having a breathing episode.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Alien life, superstition, monsters, career, love, cloning, myth, legend, disappointment, heartbreak, heroism, greed, opportunism.

MESSAGE - Be careful whom you call a monster; you may just need help from a "monster" someday.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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