I thought an animated film produced by the notable Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis would turn out to be so swell or perhaps the next Finding Nemo or Toy Story - but I was wrong. Monster House, although has the entertainment it needs, lacks the spectacle of an unforgettable animated bravura. It feels like a dream, no, not a nightmare, that when you wake up, you couldn't perfectly recall every bits and pieces in your mind.

It has a sharp dialogue, funny at times, and also momentarily charming. It has clever scenes but were oversimplified by the oversimplistic plot. From the start of the film, we are transported back to our childhood memories where we all believe that there's a creepy haunted house in the next block and we all gather our kid-homies and set out for an adventures that turns pretty awful and at the same time, wickedly adventurous. It's the feeling that was awesome, but the absence of resonance and the sweeping feel makes it more the less engaging.

There's DJ, who thinks that the house in front of them was haunted and that Mr. Nebbercracker is a nutcase who hates children crossing his lawn, as if one step across it would cause him heartattacks. He had just been left to Zee, a gothic babysitter (since when did movie babysitters never looked weird or at least looked like punks? - and has a slacker boyfriend who equally looks like a schmuck?), who when hearing DJ's story about the house felt like ridiculous prank had just been pulled on her. And there's Chowder, a big fat shlub visits over DJ and both of them started noticing scary things, which it made the more relishing (and thankful) that they introduced a lesser dimwit and more intelligent character in the name of Jenny. The three of them convinces people, including police officers that the house was indeed alive and eating people in. The character that I found really funny was the black rookie policeman, who utterly appeared like the animated version of Chris Rock. And the rest of the characters felt all too mechanical just to make the story move. There was never depth.

I am a Stephen King fan and I couldn't help but notice his influence all over this one, and also Tim Burton. Monster House also felt like stripped from the pages of a Goosebumps edition, filled with adventures and the look-I'm-scared kind of fun.

Of course, there are things that the movie teaches little children that there's no point of being scared at all, I mean, dude, since when did we feel like Superman when we get ourselves in the dark when we were still around 7 or 8 years old? Monster House, on the brighter side, gives us entertainment near the end where the three has to battle against the very alive monster house just before the night of Halloween. But when we have seen it all, it just scatters around in our brain and will soon trail away leaving us nothing but a smile, and then frown.

Rating: C