Monster Trucks

The story is simple, not a smart one, not a funny one (ok, a bit). Just a simple story for an evening entertainment. Not a great story to be taught. Several months passed since we watched this, only 3 years old boy somehow remembers the monster truck, the rest of kids never discussed it, what I see is quite bad for such a budget.

I want to commend the filmmakers on this film. There was a lot of bad press about it even coming from the studio as writing it off as a loss before it was even released.

My kids (11 and 8) have been wanting to see it since we saw a trailer ages ago. I thought the concept was a bit crazy, but it did seem like fun.

After reading that Paramount was already writing it down as a loss, pretty much told me the movie must not be that good. I didn't want to not take my kids just because of that.

Cut to today. We saw the fist showing this morning. I have to say the movie was a lot of fun. It called back to films from the 80's when I was a little film-goer. Director Chris Wedge really made a fun film that has monsters and trucks, it truly lived up to it's title. I feel like he (the director) was really pulling from films like the Explorers, Flight of the Navigator, and a bit of Gremlins. Funny, action packed and not long for the sake of being long like so many movies today. It told a cute story and let us on our way.

About halfway through the movie, I realized why I was enjoying it. It was not something from another property, no comic book characters, it wasn't a sequel. It was something to get wrapped up in and enjoy.

I just wanted to say that we really enjoyed it and I hope more people give it a chance. It's not going to solve the world's problems, but it's certainly going to entertain you. First thing my 11- year-old said after it was over was, "Can we see this again tomorrow?" Not sure if there is a better admission of how fun it was.

Very fun!

Not sure why so many are hating on this one, or basing reviews on what happened before it got to screen.

Took my 4-, 8-, 12-year-olds to see it on Saturday. All three of them enjoyed it, and I did, too. Simple enough story for the kids to understand, with little in the way of violence, profanity, sex to battle through.

Acting was good, as was the CGI. don't go in expecting The Godfather or anything -- but for a family-friendly flick with a good message, this serves its purpose extremely well. The "monsters" are cute enough for the most part and, when they bare their teeth, it's Star Wars-level "scary", if that makes sense.

Overall, check it out.

'MONSTER TRUCKS': Four Stars (Out of Five)

The new live-action/computer-animated action comedy, directed by Chris Wedge; who's also directed (or co-directed) such hit computer- animated kids movies as 'ICE AGE', 'ROBOTS' and 'EPIC'. The film is about a high school senior, who befriends an unknown subterranean creature; and then uses it to power his monster truck (which he built himself, from old cars). The two also team up, to save the creature (and others like it), from ruthless businessmen. It was written by Derek Connolly, Mathew Robinson, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger. The movie stars ​Lucas Till (of 'X-MEN' fame), Jane Levy (of 'DON'T BREATHE' and 'EVIL DEAD' fame), Thomas Lennon, Barry Pepper, Rob Lowe, Holt McCallany, Amy Ryan, Frank Whaley and Danny Glover. It was made on a budget of $125 million, and it's only expected to make a fraction of that back (in theaters). It's also gotten mostly negative reviews from critics, but I really enjoyed it!

Tripp Coley (Till) lives in a small North Dakota town, which is ran by big business (a ruthless oil company). He hates his mom's boyfriend, who's also the town's sheriff (Pepper), and he really wants to leave town. Tripp is also fascinated by automobiles, and he builds himself a monster truck (out of old scrapped car parts) to leave town in. The truck still needs an engine though. One night, while he's working on his truck, Tripp finds an undiscovered subterranean creature resting nearby. He then befriends it, and names it Creech. He also learns that the creature loves speed, and it can power his truck just like an engine could. Tripp also later learns that the ruthless oil businessmen want to catch Creech, and kill him, as well as other subterranean critters like it (which the oil company accidentally let loose). Tripp teams up with Creech, and a friendly girl from school (Levy), to save this new species.

The movie is a lot of fun; the visuals are great, the critters are cool, and the action scenes are entertaining. It's also kind of an animal rights movie, so I love it automatically for that, but it's also reminiscent of other classic 'boy befriends alien' (or animal) kids movies. It's definitely the type of film I would have loved as a kid, and the cast is all great in it. I also think Wedge is a pretty talented director, at making awesome animated (or partially animated) kids movies. I really don't understand the negative reviews!

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Nothing wrong with a fun cute family movie-- haters gonna hate but I loved it. It was good. What is not to like-- creatures, monster trucks, action, adventure, family love. Home Phillip Phillips Hold on, to me as we go As we roll down this unfamiliar road And although this wave is stringing us along Just know you're not alone 'Cause I'm going to make this place your home Settle down, it'll all be clear Don't pay no mind to the demons They fill you with fear The trouble it might drag you down If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you're not alone 'Cause I'm going to make this place your home