Hollywood Reviews and Movie Trivia

"Monster House", Directed by Gil Kenan, with producers Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, used the digital animation technique of motion capture Zemeckis brought upfront with "The Polar Express" and scores a B+...

The world of animation production has changed forever. It has moved into the Sci-Fi world of the future. Gone is the Disney style of 2 dimensional traditional works, which is probably why Disney paid billions to align with Pixar. The new wave animation seems headed into 3 primary categories: the "Roto Scooping" technique of shooting live action and digitizing it as in the current release "A Scanner Darkly", the Pixar animated style as demonstrated by the awesome racing/Nascar sequences in "Pixar's "Cars", and the "Motion Capture" process Robert Zemeckis greatly enhanced for "The Polar Express".

After all is said and done, the bottom line is story, and Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg are both excellent storytellers. "Monster House", grounded in a good story, the addition of very good animation, and the voice work of seasoned veteran actors, is great entertainment for the young and the old!

DJ (Mitchel Musso), from his upstairs bedroom window, has his telescope trained on the spooky looking house across the street. DJ has a list of items that have simply vanished from the lawn of Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi). Signs on the lawn as well as Mr. Nebbercracker, state emphatically that no one should come near the house! DJ's best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) who joins him in his vigilant surveillance is also well aware of the strange spooky house. DJ has tried to let his parents know of the strange events occurring at the house across the street but it's passed off as a child's over active imagination.

The afternoon of Halloween, DJ's parents are going out and leave the boys in the care of regular sitter "Z" (Maggie Gyllenhaal). While looking through the telescope at the house, the boys eye Jenny (Spencer Locke), a neighborhood girl whose about to try to sell Halloween candy to the resident of the strange house. As she starts toward the house the boys run downstairs and across the street to warn her about the strange old man. The three kinds find that Mr. Nebbercracker isn't the only thing strange; the house itself seems to have a life of its own! While trying to retrieve Chowder's new basketball, the kids are whisked in the mysterious house (Kathleen Turner)! The adventure begins as the kids try to find a way out and discover the house's secrets!

The motion capture is very good, the voice actors bring a lot of life to the characters, and the story is solidly paced. Over and above it all, the technology doesn't become the high point or get in the way of the movie. With Zemeckis and Spielberg producing, I'm sure director Gil Kenan took advantage of that kind of experience behind him. As a working technician in the industry, I know I would have!

Grade: B+