Moshi-Monster: Der Film

Whilst really only for the under-8s I have to say that this film was not quite as dreadful as I had expected. I'm familiar with the characters as my daughter has long been a fan of the magazine and figurines and my knowledge of the cute, simplistic characters gave me no grounds for optimism when I took my seat at the local cinema this morning.

A typical movie storyline was well paced, the characters reasonably fleshed out and the film itself not too long, though it was a little tedious in places. The selfish central character goes on something of a personal journey towards realising the value of teamwork and shared achievements - a tale that has been told many times before of course.

Some of the dialogue and vocabulary was surprisingly well considered. I particularly liked a scene which went something like this: Sidekick: "Ooh, can I press the button, boss?" Baddie: "Yes you *can* press the button... but you *may* not!" Mind you, that might have gone over the heads of some of the parents (those who were still paying attention), never mind the children! In any case, the kids seemed to like it and it held their attention. Mind you, I won't be seeking out the DVD for a birthday present.

I am 16 years old, nearly 17 alright, and I have watched this now so much because of the humour that is in this, I have watched it once with my 7 year old cousin she played the game and because of that said it was so good and funny! Most people rating a very low rating haven't probably or their kids played the game, it's really on about the game. They have to understand some stuff in this movie from the game,I wouldn't understand if I haven't played it. I would probably say that the movie is really bad, but for a fact if you played the game and enjoyed it, it will make the movie so much better.

However I'm rating this an eight not a ten becuse their were some things missing in this movie. The mission for collecting the items for Dr Strangeglove in my opinion were really short, I think it would be better for them to make it for them more challenging to get, so the movie also wouldn't be that short, an hour and 21 minutes including the credits is a bit short in my opinion so if they would have made their adventure more exciting and challenging it would be better.

Overall, the movie is great and great for kids who enjoy the game Moshi Monsters. I met a lot of 16 year olds on the game so I wouldn't really say it's childish of me, I also played it when I was 11 and wanted to get a little memories from it. So anyone could play the game and watch the movie if they enjoy playing the game.

The film was awful, it had zero-point to it, and was the most boring thing in the world. If you take your child to see this movie, it will not be a Christmas gift, you'd be better of giving the child coal and a spank. They'd enjoy it more, even for a child it is mind-numbingly dull and tedious! Don't see this movie. The only people who should go see this movie are critics, so they can warn EVERYONE in the entire world to not even waste gas or petrel to go see this catastrophe of a 'movie'. I cannot emphasize the terribleness of this movie, if you take your child to go see this movie make sure they are wearing a blindfold and powerful ear muffs, or maybe even make sure they are asleep.

Guess what, if your child likes Moshi Monsters they will like this. My 6 and 4 year olds really enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it likewise by proxy. If you've ever seen any of the Moshi music videos on YouTube then you've got the idea. Colourful, musical, simply animated, squeaky, noisy. Yes it's garish, but not as headache-inducing as I feared. The use of shadow, lighting and blurring of the various 2D planes softened things to manageable levels. The music is inventive, well-produced, catchy and there's lots going on in the accompanying animation to mean you won't fall asleep in your role as accompanying adult. The plot is simple, linear, and doesn't contain any clever gags or innuendos for the grown- ups - it's just face value, goodies versus baddies rainbow coloured cutesy nonsense for Moshi fans. Loved it.

I really don't understand why so many people loathe this movie. It's not really intended for adults - it's more for kids (and kids at heart, like me) who are fans of Moshi Monsters - a once-popular online game aimed at 6-12 year olds, which allowed kids to adopt their own virtual pet monster and take care of it. From the viewpoint of someone who was once an 8 year old who practically WORSHIPED Moshi Monsters, this was at one point my favourite movie. I went to see it in the cinema with my best friend, who also just so happened to be a fan of the game, and we absolutely LOVED it. However, looking at it as an adult, I can see why people would dislike it. The animation is far from the best, using a lot of assets from the online game. It tries too hard to appeal to fans and fans only; anyone who's unfamiliar with the game/franchise I could imagine to be completely lost in the plot. Katsuma's extreme obsession with himself gets REALLY annoying quickly, which is unfortunate as he and Poppet are the main protagonists. Would have been nice to see Luvli, Zommer, Furi and Diavlo get more screen time. I get it, Katsuma and Poppet are the most popular monsters in the game, so it makes sense for them to be the main characters, but still. I must admit, the writing is... passable. Could have worked better as an 11 minute TV episode (in fact, this whole thing just feels like a pilot for the Moshi Monsters TV show that sadly never happened). It's PACKED with a lot of songs, a lot of which have been taken from the Music Rox album that was released in 2012. The highlights are definitely the villains' songs: 'Sweet Tooth Stomp' and 'The Doctor Will See You Now'. So after all this criticism, why am I giving this movie seven stars? Because, despite now having grown up, I still find it a nostalgic guilty pleasure of mine. Like I said, my younger self ADORED this movie (but then again, I adored anything as long as it had a Katsuma slapped on it). It's still a pretty decent flick for kids (even though the game has since shut down, the Moshi franchise lives on in other ways) and I could imagine them enjoying it the way my younger self did.