By Geno McGahee
I am a huge fan of aliens. If there is a movie with aliens in it, I want to give it a shot, and that means that I will even give ALIENS IN THE ATTIC a try. I have two children, one 9 and the other 3, and it has to be better than anything Elmo. So, I was glad to check it out and I’m glad that I did. ALIENS IN THE ATTIC is a silly and entertaining film.
Tom (Carter Jenkins) is underachieving in high school and that has not gone unnoticed by his father, Stuart (Kevin Nealon). The two are going through rough times and Tom feels, and rightfully so, that he is being singled out for punishment by his dad. His sister, Bethany (Ashley Tisdale) flies under the family radar and they even accept her older boyfriend, Ricky (Robert Hoffman), even though it’s pretty obvious that he is a dickhead.
A family vacation is planned at a big house in the middle of nowhere. Tom is paired up with Jake (Austin Butler) and a rivalry is immediate. Jake is more brawn than brain and he doesn’t see much use for the thinking that Tom does. He is an action first guy.
After attacking Ricky with a paintball gun, Tom and Jake encounter small aliens that are looking to destroy and take over the world. They shoot an implant at the boys but Ricky gets in the way and he is now fully under the control of the head evil alien. There is a remote control to move him around and a microphone to speak through him. At first, they avoid Ricky, but when the kids get a hold of the controller and the speaker, the movie gets really funny. They force Ricky to do some hilarious things, including telling the parents that he filled his diaper.
Eventually, the aliens get control of Ricky again, but an epic showdown occurs when the kids take control of their grandmother and put them into a Mortal Kombat-like fight. It was very funny to watch Ricky get the implant knocked out, return to normal, but the kids still have the grandmother kick him through the basement door. He screams “why” as he is launched twenty feet.
The kids take on the aliens and the kids, of course, win. Tom gets the respect of his father and everything ends on a happy note. In fact, Bethany and Tom mend fences and take control of Ricky again. As he approaches a new girl and she asks him if he dances, he notes that he is “funky Ricky” and starts dancing like an idiot and eating flowers. It’s just a great way to end this. Actually, much of the humor comes from the physical comedy of Robert Hoffman. He really played the role well, both as a dickhead and as a goof, under the control of the kids. His final scene is very amusing.
ALIENS IN THE ATTIC is a really funny family flick. It’s not a classic, but it’s certainly worth a watch and I picked up a copy on Blu-Ray at Wal-Mart for 5 bucks. How can you beat that? So, go and own it. You’ll get some laughs out of it, I’m sure, and if you don’t, it’s only five bucks. You spend more than that on porn.
Rating: 7/10
