Aliens in the Attic

This live action family film takes place in a scenic Michigan town, in a ridiculously large and beautiful rental house. An extended family descends on the home for a week vacation. The first family consists of a father, a mother, a teen daughter dating an inappropriately older boyfriend, a teen boy who is purposely failing his classes, and a young daughter. They are shortly followed by an uncle, his older bully son, and his two younger twin sons. And of course, there is a Nana in the mix. Finally, the previously mentioned boyfriend crashes the party. There are the standard parent-child angsts relating to grades, divorce, boyfriends, and way too much screen time. The number of electronic devices carried on the four boys alone would put Radio Shack to shame.

Now the title pretty well sets the stage. The kids interrupt an invasion by four knee-high aliens. The chief weapon of the aliens is a dart like instrument that when shot in the back of the neck allows the person to be controlled as if in a video game. The trick is that it doesn't work on children so it is up to the kids (and the one soft-hearted alien they recruit to their side) to save the world. Through various creative means,the rag-tag group fight off the attacks. Weapons are made from household products and when the tech-savvy kids get a hold of one of the game style controllers for the humans, they are more than capable of holding their own against the invaders.

I did not necessarily expect to enjoy this film. My son has wanted to see it for months and tonight was family night so I conceded. But I found it amusing. The children are amiable and the adult cast is peppered with well-known faces (Kevin Nealon, Andy Richter, Tim Meadows, Doris Roberts). While the story is predictable, it is well executed and sweet.

My six year old loved it and it mostly kept the attention of my almost three year old. The "danger" elements as my son calls them were very kid-friendly and not frightening. He laughed quite a bit, especially at the game style antics of the adults under alien control.

The film is PG and it is for mild and slightly crude violence (there are a couple of crotch hits). The language, however, is not an issue at all. There is no cussing -- the genial crud and heck were the worst of it. I must say that was a nice surprise.

I would rate this DVD a "Settle In".

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