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Love and Monsters
Monster Problems
Canada / USA 2020
produced by Dan Cohen, Shawn Levy, John H. Starke (executive) for 21 Laps Entertainment, Entertainment One, Paramount/Netflix
directed by Michael Matthews
starring Dylan O'Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, Ariana Greenblatt, Ellen Hollman, Tre Hale, Pacharo Mzembe, Senie Priti, Amali Golden, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Tasneem Roc, Thomas Campbell, Joel Pierce, Melanie Zanetti, Bruce Spence, Hazel Phillips, Miriama Smith, Andrew Buchanan, Tandi Wright, Damien Garvey, Julia Johnson, Ariu Lang Sio, Donnie Baxter, Helen Howard, and the dogs Hero & Dodge
story by Brian Duffield, screenplay by Brian Duffield, Matthew Robinson, music by Marco Beltrami, Marcus Trumpp, visual effects by Mill Film
review by Mike Haberfelner
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7 years ago, monsters have overrun the earth, created by the
radioactive fall-out from a missile attack on a meteor on collision course
with earth. Since then, whoever could save themselves from the initial
attack has relocated underground in makeshift bunkers or somesuch. Joel
(Dylan O'Brien) was one of the lucky ones, but bunker life doesn't agree
with him too much. Sure, he likes his bunker mates, and they like him
back, but his contributions to his community don't exceed fixing radios
and whipping up a good minestrone. And while it seems everybody in the
bunker has found a partner, he's on his own, and what makes this
especially bitter is that his girlfriend from back when, Aimee (Jessica
Henwick), is a mere 80 miles away in another bunker - but with monsters
roaming the upper world, 80 miles - and on foot, too - seem to be an
unbridgeable gap. Still, Joel decides to try, armed with nothing more than
a crossbow and every scrap of courage he can muster - which isn't much.
And thus it doesn't take long until he almost becomes food for a giant
toad, and is only saved by a dog called Boy who apparently has lost his
human only recently, and now attaches himself to Joel on a whim. Joel
though is soon enough almost killed in another monster attack where fear
paralyzes him, and it's pure luck that drifters Clyde (Michael Rooker) and
8 year old Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt) cross his path and kill his
attacker. They take Joel under their wing and teach him basic survival
skills, from how to actually shoot a crossbow to tell whether a monster's
actually good or evil, to what to eat and what not to. But they soon have
to split up again, as they're heading for the mountains to find a safer
haven while Aimee's bunker's on the coast. However, Clyde and Minnow's
training has given him the ability to make it through the trip - if only
just, actually the hunters and gatherer's from Aimee's bunker had to save
him at the trip's very last leg. Aimee's bunker though is in a bit of an
upheaval, as they've only recently welcomed Cap (Dan Ewing) into their
midst, the owner of a big yacht who has promised to take them to an island
that's monster-free, so everybody's preparing to break camp. That's good
news, but the not so good news is, Aimee doesn't love Joel anymore, in the
7 years apart lots has happened in her life, and her feelings for him, who
wasn't part of her life during that time, have just cooled off. But the
really bad news is, Cap turns out to not be the do-gooder he has pretended
to be but a pirate intent of drugging the folks in Aimee's bunker,
stealing their food and then feeding them all to a sea monster he has
brought along. But when Joel finds that out, Cap's plot is already in full
swing ... For the most part, Love and Monsters is a nice
and quirky piece of fantasy, full of trippy and surreal spots, carried by
rather wonderful imagery (helped of course by the beautiful Australian
scenery) and pretty well-conceived monsters that show a wealth of
imagination beyond what one would come to expect from a typical monster
movie. And that the "hero" of the piece defies typical hero
conventions and is denied to get the girl in the end makes the film's
story all the more appealing. However, the film falls apart a bit in the
finale which is just too conventional, too predictable, and really feels
like a tacked on happy ending to meet market expectations rather than
being worked towards. But even with the ending, it's hard to not feel
charmed by at least parts of the movie.
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