Director – Michael Matthews (Wide Open, Five Fingers for Marseilles)
Starring – Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf, Bumblebee), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist, Game of Thrones), and Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy)
Release Date – 2020
Rating – 3.5/5
With the state of the world the way it is right now I didn’t have high hopes for big budget movies to catch my attention in 2020. I was under the impression that it would be too difficult to follow social distancing and CDC guidelines on a big budget set. However, I was impressed when I found out that a few bigger budgets films was able to sneak in through all this.
A few months ago I caught wind of an adventure comedy called Love and Monsters. I wasn’t interested in this one when I saw that it starred Dylan O’Brien but when I saw the trailer that was sent in the press release for the VOD premier I was hooked. I requested a copy but never received so I went to buy one. Sadly, Wal-Mart near me was sold out but my luck soon changed. A friend of mine had just bought it on his Vudu account and was kind enough to allow me to use his account to see it.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows Joel (O’Brien) who is living in an underground bunker with his colony seven years after the monsterpocalypse. He spends all his free time on the radio searching for other outposts to see if his girlfriend from before the event is still alive. When he does find her he sets out for a week long journey to find her but along the way he encounters all the new monsters that roam the land in mankind’s absence. **Spoiler Alert**
I went into this one expecting a decent enough popcorn flick with some shitty CGI monsters and unlikable characters but that was not really the case. The movie is far from perfect but it really was an enjoyable movie that I would have loved to see in theaters.
The acting in this one is uneven but pretty solid throughout. I’m not really a fan of Dylan O’Brien or the way he delivers his lines but it wasn’t that bad watching him in this one. He does play a pretty convincing hopeless romantic that freezes when they are scared. With that being said, I really liked the supporting cast and the characters they created. It really worked for the film and made O’Brien not look as bad.
The story for this one combines several of my favorite movie tropes. We have an apocalyptic event, giant monsters, colorful characters, and lots of adventure. There was a few things that I didn’t care for with this story but they are minor and don’t take away that much from the overall experience. The pacing is fairly smooth as well which makes it easier to sit through.
Finally, this is not a bloody flick. However, there is plenty of visual effects to see. Some of the scenes feature some pretty rough looking CGI while other scenes were extremely impressive. I’m sure it would have looked much different in theaters but there is a huge inconsistency here. With that being said, we need way more creature time on screen. There was not nearly enough of the creatures for a world overrun by them. Overall, Love and Monsters is a very enjoyable film experience that I was not expecting. I sincerely hope they make a follow up because there is so much more to this story that could be told. If you find yourself with the opportunity to see this one you really should do yourself a favor and check it out.
