All the critics here are MORONS. Monster Trucks is a superior film, I touched myself the entire time I was in the theater. Creech's performance throughout this entire film was wonderful, dare tell me that he's CGI and not a real monster and I will thank you next time I confront you in the back alley of the local Krogers. not all heroes wear capes, and in the case of monster trucks, my hero wears an entire fucking truck on its body. fuck yeah, mother trucking' monster trucks.
The same folks that said Home Alone was 1-star because it didn't have the depth of the Godfather are the same folks telling you this movie has no audience. This is a great film geared towards kids 12 and under that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Just went with three families - 10 of us total - and everyone enjoyed it (from age 3-60). If you have young boys, they will love it. It was actually (shockingly) a pretty good story, even though it was a little cheesy in parts. My 8 year old loved it, my 12-year-old thought it was pretty good. My wife and I were both assuming it was going to be awful. Not a must see but not as bad as the ratings here.
Time will tell, but Monster Trucks just might qualify as the strangest movie I see this year.
For one, the film is a big budget production that has apparently found itself in a battle against its own idea. Letting the idea of a monster that inhabits a truck apparently makes for good internet fodder (even if it was only going off the trailer). This likely led to the film only bringing in 10 million over the weekend (for a film that cost close to 200 million to make).
Secondly, word on the street is that the film was originally being written for a slightly older crowd. Forecasting the challenge of the internet fodder pushed it back onto the editing floor in efforts to reformat its core audience. This ended up tweaking the story a bit younger than intended.
All of this has led to a film that tries to be a number of things all at the same time.
Having seen the film, I must say, they actually do a decent job at explaining the whole idea of the monster in the truck. If there was a way for them to make the whole concept make sense (practically), they managed to find a way, and it keeps the film from becoming cheesy.
It is still, however, a film about a monster in a truck, and there were a number of ways they could approach the story behind the concept.
After moving us through a very quick sequence of events that bring the monster into play, we are introduced to the main character (Tripp) who is presented as a young senior trying to navigate a broken home and difficult social life (alcoholic and absent father, outcast at school). These opening scenes are quite good, and open the door to approach the film in a more serious manner (kind of like they did with Pete's Dragon). But then we veer into some sequences that feel more like a film that intends to approach the concept in a more over the top, fun and ridiculous manner. More of a satire and farce than a serious story.
This back and forth follows the film throughout, moving from the action sequences to the more serious subject matter (which moves from Tripp to a message about environmentalism). It gives the entire film a weird and loopy feel that left me uncertain about what kind of film it really wanted to be.
And here's the thing: the on-screen monster (which is not really a monster) looks quite good, and the film spends a good deal of time giving us some nice close-up shots of the monster's detail. But this attention to detail mixes a weirdly compelling gross factor with the sweetness that story brings out of the creature. It's a rather confusing mix of emotion. And this is not to mention it is a film about environmental consciousness that is also about a gas guzzling truck. But hey, that should reach both crowds, right?
The film is a mix of old school 80's films, throwing in a little bit of E.T. and A Never Ending Story with a bit of Pete the Dragon and Herbie. If that makes any sense you are further along than I am in understanding Monster Trucks. And to be honest, I could see my 8-10-year-old self-loving this film back in the 80's. As an adult, I must admit that it succeeded in taking me back to my 8-year-old self.
There is a cohesive story, and the seriousness of the opening sequence gives it just enough to carry through some of the hodgepodge of tonnes, just enough to enjoy the heart of the monster-Tripp relationship, even as we are laughing at the more satirical parts of the film in the next scene (I hope Jane Levy's character was intended as a satire, because I laughed every time she was on the screen).
I think if you choose not to take the film too seriously, but allow yourself to fall for the weirdly charming monster, you might get this film. If you are free to yell "come on Macgyver", and still care enough to say "awe" when Tripp says "you are a good monster", you might enjoy the film. And your experience might depend on the company you watch it with. It is a film that I think our son would have really liked two years ago. He simply enjoyed it at 15. I enjoyed it because I was able to allow myself to shed a few years off of myself at the same time.
Read a lot of terrible reviews about this movie, but in a somewhat telling situation my four-almost-five-year-old boy BEGGED us to take him, so we did. Sure, Rolling Stone and the LA Times thought it was crap, but I suspect if they had been four-year-old boys reviewing it they would have given it four stars, as I am, on behalf of my boy. The story is cute and simple. The trucks are...monster-ish. The monster is actually pretty cute. There is no curse words or violence. No sarcasm or cynicism. Just a cute story about monsters and trucks. What more could a little kid ask for?
Um, did you expect a masterpiece? An academy award contender? A science fiction epic? You did expect a Nickelodeon-style children's movie, right? Okay, go into to movie expecting it to be what it was intended to be. This is a pretty good children's movie, albeit a little bit misguided in its message but that is commonplace. It's fun, the effects are quite good, it has good humor and a sweet message about family. It's certainly being misrepresented by some critics and moviegoers. I overheard a fellow claim that it only made $3 million on opening weekend.... but it did well over 3 times that figure. I hope that it does better than most are expecting. If you missed it because you thought it would be awful, especially if your children are interested in the commercials, I recommend that you give it a shot. And I'm not a big custom truck type of guy.
Oh! I forgot to mention this: Monster Trucks has perhaps the best usage of the Wilhelm Scream that I have ever experienced!! Watch the movie just for that! Monster Trucks Initial Reaction: A movie about trucks that become monsters or monsters that become trucks?
Main Characters
Tripp: He's a worker at a junkyard. He's played by Lucas Till.
Plot Summary
When an oil company searches through the earth for the next stash of oil, they run into a huge batch of water. When they try to punch through it, they find that it is inhabited by squid-like creatures. One of the creatures manages to escape while two others get caught by the company. The escaped squid creature hides in a junkyard and is found by Tripp. They have a bit of a rough first impression, but it's not long before the creature and Tripp become friends.
That's when Tripp finds out that these creatures drink oil instead of water and they can be used as engines for large trucks. Tripp outfits one such truck with his squid pal, and they are off. But when several guys from the oil company show up at Tripp's door to find the missing squid creature, it gives him reason to help that squid creature find the other two creatures and set all of them free.
SCORING
Main Characters
The trip is really good as a guy who just wants to do the right thing. And he has great chemistry with the squid creature.
Supporting Cast
There's the leading lady who's there to be the "his girlfriend but not his girlfriend", a bunch of standard bad guys and the father figure who for some reason isn't around to help out. Not a good group.
Plot
The film starts off great with the creatures being found - and how Tripp and his squid become friends. But the climax is really convoluted and the resolution leaves a lot to be desired.
Originality
This film feels like your average alien film; the trucks really don't add much to the mix. And it also suffers from bland bad guys and the bland leading lady.
Violence Factor
There are a lot of trucks bashing into each other, and some of them crash. But we don't see any damaged or destroyed trucks onscreen - they just vanish as if they never existed. Not good.
Other Moral Issues
This film does a great job of showing how two totally different creatures can learn to work as a team.
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