Tom Pearson (Carter Jenkins - Surface) is a brilliant minded student who gets picked on for being intelligent. He decides to act out and force his grade average down in an attempt to alleviate the bullying. This doesn't come as welcome news to his parents Stuart (Kevin Nealon - Weeds) and Nina (Gillian Vigman) and despite his best efforts; his behaviour still doesn't get him out of his family vacation duties. Along with his sisters Bethany (Ashley Tisdale - High School Musical) and Hannah (Ashley Boettcher) the whole family join up with the rest of the Pearson clan in a holiday home in the country. Along with his 3 cousins, his uncle Nathan (Andy Richter) and his Nana Rose (Doris Roberts - Everybody Loves Raymond) the whole family look forward to a stress-free vacation for a few days.
Bethany's slimy boyfriend Ricky (Robert Hoffman) also decides to stop by the family home. He has one thing on his mind though and pretends to have car trouble so that the Pearson's invite him to spend the night (and with it the prospect of getting up close and personal with Bethany). Tom realises what a scumbag his sister's boyfriend is but everyone else seems to love the guy... just another reason why Tom hates his life at the moment. A TV Ariel malfunction causes the boys to go onto the attic to investigate. Whilst there they stumble upon something amazing - and very dangerous. A band of 4 aliens have arrived on Earth as a scouting party hell bent on annihilating the human race and enslaving our planet. Tom and his cousins must do whatever it takes to stop the band of mischievous aliens before they brain-wash their parents and take over Earth. Along the way, Tom could rediscover the true meaning of family and togetherness as the kids put their differences aside to form earth's first line of defence against these visitors from outer space.
As family movies go, there's a lot to like about Aliens in the Attic. It manages to tread the sentimental tightrope well and it never feels fake or pretentious. The kids all do their upmost to make the zany Tom and Jerry-esq mayhem fun with Carter Jenkins and Austin Robert Butler doing well as the heroes of the piece. Ashley Tisdale isn't in the film as much as hoped but when she is called upon; she more than handles the comedic element to her role. This could quite likely be the last time we see Ashley in a kid's movie as the jump to more mainstream and mature roles looks imminent. The pick of the kids would have to be Ashley Boettcher as the young girl who befriends one of the aliens. She does very well considering that she must have been acting against a green screen for most of her scenes. Out of the adults, Andy Richter impresses as Toms care-free uncle but Doris Roberts steals the shows as Nana Rose. Special mention also needs to go to Robert Hoffman who provides the films funniest moments as Ricky, the college kid whose body is taken over by the alien race.
The SFX of Aliens in the Attic is quite tame in comparison to the work Pixar churn out regularly. That said the film is still quite watchable despite this (which is a testament to its cast). Even the voices used for the aliens (Thomas Hayden Church being the most famous) didn't really seem to fit very well. One effects sequence that deserves special praise though is when Nana Rose and Ricky's bodies are taken over by the aliens and they fight each other a la Street Fighter. The sight of an OAP dragon-punching a college kid can't help but make you smile!
If you want a light family film with a decent message at its core and hilarious set-pieces aplenty, you can do a lot worse than Aliens in the Attic. Kids should love the anarchy on show and there's some decent gags thrown in for the mums and dads too. Even if the effects don't amount to much, the general fun of the film gets you through the slender 86min runtime quickly and with a smile on your face.
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