In the beginning, we meet two guys in Antarctica. They freak-out when it appears a real “UFO’s headed” to Earth. They panic because they thought it would never happen and are flying by the seat of their pants.
President Hathaway (Stephen Colbert) is the first character we see who is winging it. When he approaches the alien, he does not seem to have any great plan in mind. He just walks up to it and starts playing it music hoping to “make first contact” and “peaceful communication”. However, there does not seem to be any thought-out plan in place.
Even after he tries to communicate with the alien and it fails, he tells a commander to “do something violent”. They just throw bombs at it and hope it goes away, which does not happen. Where was the plan there?
When the monsters are dropped to fight the aliens, no instruction is given. They are abandoned in San Francisco to “destroy” the alien without any help. When facing the alien on the Golden Gate Bridge, Susan has to figure out how to defeat the giant alien robot for herself.
Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) makes the classic mistake of monologging for too long. While he thinks he has a solid plan in place, he still gets foiled by a bunch of monsters. Even though his plan is to make clones, his clones cannot distinguish themselves from the monsters of Earth.
And when Gallaxhar talks to the people, instead of reassuring them of his innocence, he tells them that they will not survive and those who do will be enslaved. “It’s just business.” He cannot effectively communicate to instill trust.
Susan makes her own rules. She approaches every situation with the best intentions and few thought-out plans. She fights for what she wants and makes her own rules.
Just about the only thing that seems to be planned out is the hiding of the “monster”. They are kept in “an X-file, wrapped in a cover-up, and deep fried in a paranoid conspiracy”. The housing and feeding schedules seem thought out.
This is a commentary on government and those in power. Yes, there are few plans considered fully in this film. Therefore, maybe the government or those in power are not entirely in control, but those who work for what they want achieve their desires.
Tropes and idioms of Monsters vs. Aliens.
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