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When a movie is abandoned by its own studio, that is usually a sign of something bad -- really bad, perhaps even stinky.
Not so with Aliens in the Attic, a kids sci-fi flick that opened yesterday without a preview screening for critics, which is usually the kiss-off of death.
This one lives. Okay, I admit it, Aliens in the Attic is not a rebirth of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, although the filmmakers steal shamelessly from Steven Spielberg's kiddie classic. And few adults will want to see this Aliens themselves without the kids.
But, for the youngsters, it offers a lot of fun -- and it's funny. Plus the modest special effects don't totally suck, important in selling what is already a cliched story.
The action is set at grandma's Gothic country home near a small American town (although the movie was actually shot in New Zealand). The premise comes from the annals of pulp science fiction: Little green men from another planet land on Earth to plan a future mass invasion. Funny how they always start in the United States. Hmmmm.
Anyway, one of the four aliens is sympathetic to humanity, setting up an E.T.-like bond between a pre-school girl and the wide-eyed creature. And the other kids, all older, abandon their ennui, put aside petty squabbles and band together to fight the three bad guys. In the process, they try to save all humanity without getting in trouble with the adults.
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The surprise here is that director John Schultz pulls this together and makes it seem fresh. Given that he last directed The Honeymooners (2005), a movie so terrible it could have permanently destroyed his career, Schultz has come a long way just to push Aliens in the Attic past mediocrity and into acceptable.
I like the gaggle of eccentric kids that were cast, a troupe led by Carter Jenkins as Tom. He looks like just another Hollywood brat, yet emerges with a little more gumption and complexity than most kid actors thrust into these roles. He is sympathetic, yet flawed, like an adult anti-hero. His character is a brainiac pretending to be stupid because he mistakenly thinks that smart kids are not cool. That is an interesting subtext for what happens.
Other keys roles are filled by unknowns, as well as hard-working stiffs such as Kevin Nealon (from Weeds) and Andy Richter (Madagascar).
There is violence in the movie, but not the kind that will (or should) concern parents.
So there is nothing for parents to fear here. Plus the movie is thankfully free of the cheap fart-joke humour so prevalent in kids movies. Language is tame. One kid refers to the green guys as "buggers" and another kid says, "Heck!"
Another thing the kids might like, while their parents won't mind: Adults are useless in stopping an alien invasion. The heroes are all underage.
(This film is rated PG)