Opening Day: 9 September 2009

Synopsis:

"Aliens in the Attic," co-scripted by one of the writers of "Madagascar" and the Academy Award®-winning "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbits," is an adventure/comedy about kids on a family vacation who must fight off an attack by knee-high alien invaders with world-destroying ambitions--while the youngsters' parents remain clueless about the battle.

Movie Review:

In this latest offering by 20th Century Fox, a group of stereotypical teenagers has to battle with a foursome of aliens from preventing an unwanted invasion into our planet.

There is nothing original about the premise of this film, plenty of aliens had already tried to invade our home in the big screen with zero success thus far, and this is no exception. The script is kind of disappointing from the Academy award winning writer, with minimal build up and slipshod conclusion. Even the humour appears dry and overused; some of them even repeat themselves in the very film. The first time it occurs might be funny but the second and third, not so much. The supposedly laugh out loud moments are overused- the audience will find an elderly displaying some matrix-inspired moves vastly familiar.

Majority of the cast put up a lacklustre performance, portraying their characters as though all of them have been 'mind-controlled' by the aliens. They appear two dimensional most of the time and the supporting characters are as thin as paper, making some of them seen redundant in the film. The worst of the pack is definitely Ashley Michelle Tisdale who is still living in the shadow of High School Musical, making her character appears as a crossover from that film. However, the saving grace come from 9 years old Ashley Boettcher, playing the youngest member in the family with perfect blend of innocence and comedic timing.

The major blunder of the film certainly is the rushed conclusion. Even at the end of the film, the adults are still ignorant about the event that has occur right before their very eyes, and ironically, the theme consistently empahsised throughout the film, regarding the breakdown of communication between the generations appears more poignant in the scene where the father and son resolves their issue as the father (Austin Butler) expressed no interest in the sudden change in his wayward son.

All in all, Aliens in the Attic lacks in sincerity, and perhaps is able to evoke some laughter from teenage moviegoers with it crude humour, but for the majority, this film will be only mildly entertaining and will be best avoided

Movie Rating:



(An unimaginative film that is only mildly entertaining at its best)

Review by Sing Swee Leong