Aliens in the Attic (Blu-ray)

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I can remember seeing the trailer for "Aliens in the Attic" and thinking the film could be a lot of fun. It reminded me of previous "sci-fi" children´s films such as "Flight of the Navigator" and while it certainly wasn´t the kind of movie to pull in any awards or strong critical response, the strong negative backlash towards the film kept me from hitting the multiplexes to witness this mix of CGI animation and live action. I´ve always been a sucker for cheesy and fun entertainment and "Aliens in the Attic" looked like a movie that had a lot of potential for this. Just the sight of "Everybody Love Raymond" star Doris Roberts taking a kung fu stance was enough to perk my interest. Hearing J.K. Simmons voice an alien and "The Ladies Man" Tim Meadows was almost enough for me to want to take my young nephew out to see the film.

I´m glad I didn´t go. After watching "Aliens in the Attic" on Blu-ray I am less than impressed and felt that while the picture was affable enough to watch from beginning to end, it was not worth spending too many of my hard earned dollars. This is a great movie for younger children to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon, but it is not a film for anybody over the age of ten to particularly enjoy. "Aliens in the Attic" is horribly silly and while it does throw in a few jokes for older audiences, the action is far too cartoonish and childish to be enjoyable by anybody who does not love "Dora the Explorer" or "Spongebob." The filmmakers were far too influenced by the Nintendo Wii to appeal to the Xbox and Playstation crowd to entice even young teenagers.

In the film, Stuart Petersen (Kevin Nealon) is taking his family out for a vacation to go fishing and travel to their large summer house with members of the extended family. This includes grandmother Nana (Doris Roberts), Uncle Nate (Andy Richter) and his family. The Petersen children include youngest daughter Hannah (Ashley Boettcher) and the eldest sister Bethany (Ashley Tisdale) as well as Tom (Carter Jenkins). Tom is the film´s central character and he would rather hack the school computer instead of fishing and his dropping grades has been a cause for concern for his parents and places him under the ire of Stuart. The family is joined by Bethany´s college age and Camaro driving boyfriend Ricky (Robert Hoffman).

The story moves along and the family finds the satellite dish has been damaged. Ricky and Tom head to the roof to fix the satellite dish and they discover the four-armed alien called Sparks (Josh Peck). He seems friendly enough, but his leader Skip (J.K. Simmons) and the always arguing Tazor (Thomas Hayden Church) and Razor (Kari Wahlgren) feel that humans should be imprisoned and the pint-sized invaders attack Tom and Ricky. Ricky is placed under mind control where a motion-sensing controller allows the aliens to control his every move and use him as a weapon, but the devices do not work on immature humans and Tom is able to avoid being taken control of by the aliens. Later in the film Nana is also placed under mind control and the big fight between Nana and Ricky was one of the trailer´s highlights.

There are a number of subplots that unfold as the film continues. Ricky and Bethany´s relationship comes under strain as he acts unusual due to the mind control. Hannah becomes friends with the ´nerdy´ alien Sparks and it is revealed that a device has been hidden buried under the vacation home that will allow the Zirkonians to invade Earth as they can supersize and then send beacons into space to call in the invasion force. While Stuart is a nerdy father, Uncle Nate is the fast driving Uncle who brings illegal fireworks and this mirrors their sons Tom and Jake (Austin Butler). Tim Meadows has a small supporting role as the small town sheriff who is the only lawmen in town as his deputy is off on maternity leave. The children try to keep the aliens a secret from the mind-control susceptible adults.

I´ve not seen a single "High School Musical" film and although I´ve seen "Donnie Darko" a couple times I had zero knowledge of who Ashley Tisdale was before watching "Aliens in the Attic." In truth, the complete young cast of "Aliens in the Attic" was alien to me. The ´mature´ actors in the film included Kevin Nealon, Andy Richter, Tom Meadows and Doris Roberts from "Everybody Loves Raymond." Veteran actors Thomas Hayden Church and the always entertaining J.K. Simmons provide voice talent. While this isn´t a bad overall cast, the recognizable faces were either underutilized or poorly utilized and added little to no entertainment value in the film. Only Doris Roberts stood out among "the adults." Tisdale seemed to be cast due to her popularity among "tweenage" girls and given a bikini to draw in similarly aged boys. Young Ashley Boettcher was very cute and the only standout among the younger actors.

Director John Schultz last directed the ´urbanized´ version of "The Honeymooners" that placed Cedric the Entertainer into the iconic shoes of Jackie Gleason and his previous claim to fame before that picture was Lil´ Bow Wow´s "Like Mike." Neither films received much positive praise and his other projects leave a lot to be desired. While he may not be blazing a trail to the A-List of directors, Schultz does a credible job with creating an action film for kids. Watching "Aliens in the Attic" reminded me in tone of the 1998 Joe Dante film "Small Soldiers" and while I don´t feel this picture can speak to adults, Schultz seems to understand what children enjoy. Some credit must be given to Shultz and the young actors for their performances against CGI creations and there are adult actors who have difficulty acting against actors who aren´t really there.

Would I watch "Aliens in the Attic" again? Probably not. Would I recommend the film to any teenager or older viewer? Again, probably not. However, I would have no problem whatsoever of throwing the title into the video disc player and letting my young neighbor laugh heartedly at the happenings on screen. I´d prefer this picture over another "Spongebob" adventure. This film was intended to a given audience and it is one of those pictures that isn´t going to transcend beyond its given demographics, but young boys will especially enjoy the film and especially the slapstick hilarity of motion controlled adults. Sure, there are far better genre pictures than this, but the movie is harmless and has gained a stamp of approval by the Dove Foundation, which is used by some parents to select titles for their children to view.