Grandma goes kung fu crazy in ‘Aliens in the Attic’

Kids and their families will have some comedic martial arts action to enjoy this summer when 20th Century Fox’s ALIENS IN THE ATTIC arrives in theaters on July 31. A sneak preview reveals one of the film’s highlights, an alien gadget that turns grandma into a martial arts dynamo.

What makes the gimmick at least mildly funny for me is that the grandma doing wire-fu is Doris Roberts, a prolific 78-year-old character actress from hit TV series EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and REMINGTON STEEL. She is practically the last person I would ever expect to see doing wire-fu. Of course, GOLDEN GIRLS star Betty White would have been even better but then she is pushing 90. Getting tossed around by a wire crew at that age might not be such a good idea.

In ALIENS IN THE ATTIC, a family heads to their vacation home in Maine for a relaxing stay but discover that the house is already occupied by one friendly alien and his no-so-friendly alien companions. It’s up to the kids to defend their home and their planet.

A fight choreographer isn’t listed in the credits on IMDb but Rex Reddick and Paul Shapcott are credited as stunt coordinators. Shapcott previously worked on THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN and UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS.

Kung fu-fighting grannies are not a new concept. A few years ago the Hong Kong dramedy KUNG FU MASTER IS MY GRANDMA came out to reveal the not-so-convincing fighting application of tai chi. Then there is SHAOLIN GRANDMA, an awkward spoof of producer Stephen Chow’s SHAOLIN GIRL that’s coming to DVD in the U.S. on July 7 courtesy of Well Go USA.

I’m partial to action director Yuen Cheung-yan’s portrayal of a fighting granny in Yuen Woo-ping’s screwball kung fu comedy classic SHAOLIN DRUNKARD.