Aliens in the Attic
A group of kids defend their Maine vacation home from knee-high alien invaders in this adventure comedy for the entire family. When Michigan native Bethany Pearson (Ashley Tisdale) arrives home after a secret outing with her boyfriend (Robert Hoffman), her father, Stuart (Kevin Nealon), decides that it's high time for a family vacation. Packing up the car with wife Hannah (Ashley Boettcher), teenage son Tom (Carter Jenkins), and big sister Bethany in tow, Stuart invites the extended family to join them at the vacation home for some much-needed R&R and sets his sights on Maine. Much to Tom's dismay, Bethany's stuck-up boyfriend, Ricky (Hoffman), even manages to wrangle an overnight visit. Shortly after the Pearsons arrive at their sprawling summer home, however, things start to get strange. As dark clouds start to swirl overhead, four glowing objects blast through the sky on a collision course with the Pearsons' roof. But these aren't your typical meteors, because inside dwells tough-talking alien commander Skip, muscle-bound weapons specialist Tazer, lethal female Razor, and geeky four-armed techie Sparks. Before long, the aliens have taken Ricky over via a powerful mind-control device, and announced their intentions to claim Earth for the "Zirkonians." While the adults are completely oblivious to the extraterrestrial threat, the kids fight to save the planet with a little help from Sparks, the alien tech-specialist and one nonhostile invader. John Schultz directs a script penned by British scribe Mark Burton (Wallace & Gromit). more..
Director: John Schultz
Starring: Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler, Ashley Tisdale, Ashley Boettcher
The movie is awfully close to a video game with its own specific rules, but its characters are appealing and funny, "Aliens" doesn't have a mechanical feel that drags down most video-game movies.
Perfectly calibrated for the pre-adolescent set, highlighting broad physical comedy and themes of kid empowerment and featuring one of the stars from "High School Musical."
A pointless but ultimately harmless family adventure that doesn't mentally assault the 12-and-over set. (Extra points for being 100 percent fart-joke-free).
Performances are unremarkable but acceptable pretty much across the board, and the vocal talents -- particularly Thomas Haden Church as the belligerent Tazer and Josh Peck as the lovable Sparks -- are well cast.
Like those mild old Disney comedies of the '60s and '70s, it seems perfectly content with being a harmless distraction.
Choice Summer Movie Star: Female
Teen Choice Awards (2009)
Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Ensemble Cast
Young Artist Awards (2010)
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