A look into Love & Monsters

We're dealing with a monster-infested post-apocalyptic world. So, in this monster-infested world, Joel, which is played by Daniel O'Brien, learns his girlfriend is just 80 miles away to make
the dangerous journey. Joel discovers his inner hero to be with the girl of his dreams.

So, we have Dylan O'Brien, Jessica Hinwick(Joel's girlfriend), Michael Rooker, who I'm a massive fan of. And of course, they had to throw a dog in there because that's going to make the audience want to root for our hero more, and it works, it works extremely well. I loved how Dylan O'Brien executed his role perfectly. The man has charm.

To be honest when I saw the trailer, I was very skeptical because it looked as if it didn't know what kind of movie it wanted to be. The issue with these kinds of movies is that they normally have problems
dealing or balancing tone. But what Love and Monsters manages to do is it really captures the spirit and really the vibe of what we used to get in the 80s and 90s.

This feels good adventure with
these scary and I mean, actually, scary monsters, creatures that we know whether it be a bug or a small animal, and then they turn into just a big old, huge, really good-looking creature. And I say that because this is not a film you go into expecting the CGI and lots of practical effects. I mean, just as many practical effects as CGI in this movie, you don't really expect it to be top notch high quality. They look great. They look really great.

There's something about the way that they're constructed that makes them look more realistic, and they're not hidden in the shadows. It's not nighttime whenever he encounters these monsters. Broad daylight, which normally makes special effects like this look even worse. But the mix of that and practical effects allows these creatures to really stand out. And what this movie does well, extremely well.

This sense of adventure, the companion in the dog. And one thing I love about this movie is that everyone is involved. They all have a shared sense of trauma or traumatic events that happened prior to when we meet them in this film. It almost feels like Zombieland in the way that this team lose team. It's mostly Daniel O'Brien comes together at one point, not as funny, and not as humorous. But it is slightly self-aware in the way that it carries and progresses its story. And once we encounter Rooker and the little girl, it does get a sense of life a bit of a spark about it that allows us to enjoy it even more so than we already were.

And the movie is just fun. And maybe it's just the sense of adventure. But the villainous characters, they don't really build up all that well. They kind of just come and then they go. But I like the fact that the main focus is on this hero's journey. And the main focus is on him all along. And what he learns along the way, whether he's being taught by Michael Rooker's character or he's figuring things out for himself, he applies that at the end of the story.

So not much to it in terms of how deep it gets. And again, it is predictable in the way that it progresses. And you kind of see a couple of steps ahead, like what is likely to happen and it eventually happens. And we had those moments he needed to overcome his fear. But I'm not going to lie. If I was in his shoes, I'd be shaking like a leaf, just like he was. And I like that. I like the sense of realism that they brought, even though certain moments are over the top.

Liam Hemsworth was in this movie for like 30 seconds. Then I'm like, nope, that's just a guy that looks and sounds just like Liam Hemsworth. You know what? It's lightweight. It's imaginative. It has this sense of spirit about it that I hadn't really seen this for quite sometime. It's a nice throwback to movies that we used to get and a great guy and his dog story. And he's doing it all because of love and that is really, really sweet.

I'll rate the movie 7 out of 10. I really had fun seeing the movie. And again, what it does well in terms of the effects and look out for some of the practical effects here. I'm impressed with what they were able to do. I really am. Although, I sort of wanted more Michael Rooker and the little girl.
I thought they were great. Just not enough of them in the movie. But the focus was there. And I appreciate that.

Images source IMDB