We witnessed an epic battle this week—that of Monsters vs. Aliens.

We’re a pretty avid movie-going family, and we’ve been looking forward to this one for some time now. I have to admit that when I first saw the trailers, I thought it looked a little bizarre, but with a voice cast including Reese Witherspoon, Will Arnett, Seth Rogan, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd, Stephen Colbert and Hugh Laurie *sigh* if nothing else it would be entertaining.

I was right. Like most movies these days the humor is layered to appeal to both kids and adults. The hub and I cracked up at the throwbacks to the old monster movies of yesteryear and some of the more sophisticated jokes, while the kids thought the idea of a gelatinous pile of goo named Bob playing catch with his own eyeball was a scream. To each their own, and there’s plenty for everyone. Even my Aunt Liz, who gamely accompanied us, chortled through the entire movie.

Of course, unlike the classic movies, these monsters are complex (did Godzilla ever question his motivation or wonder what life would be like if he was just a “normal lizard”?). They have fears and weaknesses just like everyone. The messages aren’t subtle, but they do speak to individuality and empowerment, which I appreciate.

The other interesting element to this movie is that it is in 3-D, which seems to be more and more popular these days. Afterwards, my son claimed he was glad it wasn’t in “real 3-D”. When asked what that meant he expressed relief that things weren’t flying out at him making him jump out of his seat. I think the 3-D makes the movie more dynamic without trying to go for the “shock” factor.

That being said, there are some intense chase and fight scenes. Well, intense for me —I know that different families have different tolerances, and the 7 and 11 year olds took it all in stride. I’m just saying that when the 50- foot woman is slipping into the grinding gears of an evil robot, or the aliens start shooting point blank at one another, that’s the point where I have to cover my eyes. Likewise, it might be a bit much for very small children.

All in all Monsters vs. Aliens is a highly entertaining diversion from the day-to-day battles of Mom vs. Kids, Kids vs. Kids, and Mom vs. Socks, and well worth the time and money.