Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

Aliens in the Attic

(2009)

We’re all familiar with the genre of kid movies where the kids repel some threat in spite of the cluelessness of their parents. I find I tolerate them less and less as I grow older. As I turn into a grumpy old man. Here, it actually makes a sort of sense, as the invading aliens have a gizmo that enables them to animate a person like a remote control puppet … but it only works on grown-ups. Naturally the main character son has issues with his father, and naturally they are resolved at the end, though I can’t fathom why. Nothing has happened to bring them together. This is a totally uninspired movie which I suppose the kids will enjoy, as it’s full of action. There was one funny schtick, involving the awful older boyfriend of The Girl, whose mind and body are taken over by the aliens, but whose controller (looks just like a video game controller) is captured and operated by the kids. It’s fun to see him get his just desserts, crashing into things and so forth. Other than that, I didn’t laugh at all.