【英语时差8,16】立体视觉效果奇佳、但剧情平平的「怪兽大战外星人」

The super-duper 3-D big-screen Imaxed-out extravaganza that is "Monsters vs. Aliens" has bells and whistles, whiz and bang, sound and fury. It even has Reese Witherspoon.

What it doesn't have is heart. . .or much of a story.

Witherspoon voices a character named Susan Murphy, who on her wedding day is waylaid¹ by a meteorite² and turned into a giantess. She's then whisked to an undisclosed location that houses a double-secret team of government-created monsters, whom she teams up with to battle the alien who sent the meteorite to Earth in the first place. That squidlike villain³, voiced by Rainn Wilson, has four eyes, several slurpy-sounding tentacles⁴ and a yen⁵ for a substance called Quontonium, which. . . well, let's just say it's a substance uniquely designed to keep the story going.

Most of the characters, Dr. Cockroach⁶ for example, simply don't have endearing qualities that capture audiences' sympathy. One exception is B.O.B., a forgetful blue gelatinous blob that not only elicits⁷ the movie's few laughs, but earns each one. As voiced by Seth Rogen, the lovable piece of goo develops his own personality and sense of humor, especially when he falls hard for a green Jell-O mold. "Monsters vs. Aliens" may be entertaining to see once, but the plot and characters are unlikely to make a lasting⁸ impact.

 

1 waylaid   

v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I got waylaid on my way here. 我在来这里的路上遭到了拦路抢劫。
• He was waylaid by thieves. 他在路上被抢了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 meteorite   

n.陨石；流星

参考例句：

• The meteorite in Jilin Exhibition Hall is believed to be the largest in the world.吉林展览馆的陨石被认为是世界上最大的。
• The famous Murchison meteorite smashed into the Australian ground in 1969.1969年著名的默奇森陨石轰然坠落在澳大利亚。

3 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

4 tentacles   

n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛

参考例句：

• Tentacles of fear closed around her body. 恐惧的阴影笼罩着她。
• Many molluscs have tentacles. 很多软体动物有触角。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

6 cockroach   

n.蟑螂

参考例句：

• A cockroach can live several weeks with its head off.蟑螂在头被切掉后仍能活好几个星期。
• She screamed when she found a cockroach in her bed.她在床上找到一只蟑螂时大声尖叫。

7 elicits   

引出，探出( elicit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You might find that a sympathetic approach elicits kinder and gentler behavior. 你或许会发现用同情的方法，可引出更友善及更温和的行为。
• It presents information, shares ideas and elicits emotions. 它展示信息、流思想和抒发情感。

8 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。