Love and Monsters – Absolute Blast
Director: Michael Matthews
Writer: Brian Duffield, Matthew Robinson (Screenplay)
Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, Ariana Greenblatt, Ellen Hollman
Plot: Seven years after he survived the monster apocalypse, lovably hapless Joel leaves his cozy underground bunker behind on a quest to reunite with his ex.
Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Love and Monsters starts seven years after a plan to destroy an asteroid left the nuclear wastage hitting Earth creating monsters on Earth, the humans need to move into colonies underground with Joel (O’Brien) living in one of them. He is the chef and not used to fight against any of the monsters, with the rest of colony being the ones that look out for him.
One day Joel decides he wants to go in search for his girlfriend Aimee (Henwick) who is in another colony, which will see him going into the world alone for the first time, meeting a lonely dog named Boy, Clyde (Rooker) and Minnow (Greenblatt) who have been surviving together in the dangerous world.
Thoughts on Love and Monsters
Characters & Performances – Joel has been living in an underground colony after the world got infected by nuclear fallout turning the animals into giant monsters roaming the Earth. He is seen as the wimpy one of the colony that isn’t prepared for the dangers outside, though he is the only single one. He wants to go in search of his girlfriend, which will see him leave the colony and travel in the world of danger alone for the first time, learning to fight, while also seeing the pain others have been through. Dylan O’Brien is wonderful in the leading role of this film, bringing all the charisma needed for the film to shine. Aimee is the woman that Joel makes the journey for, a former girlfriend before the events happened, she is in a different colony with only radio communication. Clyde and Minnow help Joel in the open world, teach him about the dangers and how to survive, they both have their own story for being together and tough to this world. Michael Rooker brings the experienced head to the cast, where he is always good in a mentor like role. The whole cast does a great job through this film, playing their characters perfectly.
Story – The story here takes us to a world where everyday animals have been turned into giant monsters, with humans needing to live in colonies under the surface, where one young man decides to go in search of an ex-girlfriend from a different colony, learning about the changed world above for the first time. This is a story that feels like a soft version of a Fallout game, where it doesn’t have the pure violence, but the creatures are enlarged ones we could see in everyday life. The story is told in a way that feels like it is Zombieland, trying to turn the dark world into something cheery, which is also a highlight in the film. The story uses the adventure side of a story is a joy to watch because we get given the real side effects of the world, be it through the dog, Clyde or Minnow.
Themes – Love and Monsters is an action adventure sci-fi film that takes our leading character on a journey against the monsters now crawling the Earth, big creatures that we would see in everyday life, the world created is brilliant and when it comes to the special effects with the creature creations, it is stunning to watch.
Love and Monsters is a truly enjoyable adventure movie with a great cast, phenomenal effects and an amazing tone.
