Aliens in the Attic 2009

     Stuart Pearson goes with his family to spend a summer vacation in Creek Landing Michigan.  Also there for vacation are his brother Nathan Pearson, his sons and their mother Rose.  They will be staying in an old lake house they have rented.  When the television has trouble with the image, Stuart's son Tom and the arrogant boyfriend of his sister, Ricky Dillman go to the attic and then to the roof.  There, Tom meets his cousin Jake and they find the antenna dish totally destroyed?  Soon, they discover four alien invaders that are preparing an invasion of the Earth.  They will be using a mind control weapon that only affects adults and they lock the quartet in the attic.  Now, the aliens need to a find a way to force the adults to leave the house.  The mission for the family is to discover the vulnerability of the invaders and to plot a defense plan to save our planet.  

     This alien adventure comedy stars Disney Channel and Nickelodeon veterans like Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical) and Austin Robert Butler (Zoey 101).  Expect tweens and younger elementary schoolers to be interested. There's a heavy dose of physical humor and action, as well as some mild peril, but it's fairly mild compared to other tween-targeted films.  The language includes frequent use of insults like "stupid," "idiot," and "tool," while the consumerism focuses heavily on electronics (Nintendo, Mac, X-box, etc).

Note:  Rotten Tomatoes 33% with 75 critic reviews 43% with 250,000+ audience scores, Imdb .4* out of 10* with 20,826 reviews, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen 3* out of 5* age 8+, 1* educational value 2* sexy stuff, positive role models language, 3* violence & scariness, 4* consumerism, Metacritic 42 out of 100 with 10 critic reviews 5.6 out of 10 with 54 user scores, The Guardian 2* out of 5* Peter Bradshaw, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 1510 reviews.  

Special Note:  The They Came From Upstairs title appeared in some early promotional materials before being changed to Aliens in the Attic (2009).  At 17:10, Sparks is the first alien Tom and Jake encounter while on top of the roof.  “He tells them "Hello, humans, we come from upstairs."  This line was probably intended as a joke with the word "upstairs" mistakenly used to mean "space".  It is also the likely source of the working title "They Came From Upstairs".  The fourth 20th Century Fox's live-action/computer-animated hybrid film after Garfield (2004), Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) and Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007).

Mistakes:  The Illinois license plate on Ricky's car (at 08:37 to 08:39 with a blue tag in the lower right corner reading 03-10) is out of date. The type of license plate on his car has not been used in Illinois since 2001 but the movie clearly appears to be set in the present.  Hannah's teeth change through out the movie.  Ashley Boettcher was obviously loosing her baby teeth.  The Sheriff is angry that Uncle Nathan has no license plate on the front of his car (at around 1 min) but this is irrelevant because Michigan does not require a front license plate.  Then at 27:53, a blue Michigan plate is shown on the rear of Uncle Nathan's Lincoln Navigator.  

86 min, adventure directed by John Schultz and written by Mark Burton, Adam F. Goldberg with Carter Jenkins, Austin Butler, Ashley Tisdale, Ashley Boetttcher, Henri and Regan Young, Doris Roberts, Robert Hoffman, Kevin Nealon, Gillian Vigman, Andy Ricter, Tim Meadows, Melise, Megan Parker, Doug MacMillan.