“Monsters vs. Aliens” burst out of the screen quite literally last weekend as one of the biggest 3-D family films of 2009. Kids and adults gawked through their 3-D glasses as they watched the world fall under attack by an evil self-cloning alien intent on destroying Earth. When all the military power was no match for the extraterrestrial technology, Earth’s last hope was to unveil one last secret weapon: monsters.

Reese Witherspoon lends her voice to a young woman, Susan, who is preparing to walk down the aisle on her wedding day when she was struck by a meteorite. She is then whisked off by government officials to a secret Area 51-like establishment, where she is told she must remain as a monster called Ginormica.

She is shuffled through the military prison by a cleverly named general, W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), who introduces her to a motley group of other monsters who, like the giant woman, seem to be strange incarnations from classic monsters of the past. B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), the goofy blue gelatinous mass with no brain, mirrors “The Blob” but with a better sense of humor and an eyeball. The Missing Link (Will Arnett), is an amphibious creature that is part sea creature and part ladies man but just looks like a caricature of “The Swamp Thing.”

Though the movie had plenty of silly parts that humored children and adults, the movie felt like DreamWorks’ monstrous attempt to crank out a film better than Pixar’s “Wall-E.” The 3-D animation was interesting and had the kids in the audience ooh-ing and ahh-ing like they were watching fireworks, but it really didn’t make the film any more magical or amazing like it did in “The Polar Express.”

“Monsters vs. Aliens” is a fun movie that will be a thrill for kids who have never seen these monsters before, and the 3-D animation will help keep them entertained for more than an hour. But for adults, the recycled characters and girl-empowering themes may go a little overboard.