Monster Cars

A young loner discovers a monster in a junkyard and finds he can use it to power his car. Soon he befriends the monster and sets out to help it find it's way home.

Great special effects and some good performances from some likable lead actors makes this an enjoyable movie to watch. Don't expect the plot to hold up to well under strict scrutiny but it is a kids film after all. There are some good positive messages about family and friends with a little bit of a green message too but nothing heavy handed.

The monster is very likable and the film has some funny moments too. Definitely recommended. I know I would have loved this as a kid and would have certainly enjoyed the action scenes in the second half of the movie. I can imagine younger kids of today having fond memories of this movie in the future. I just hope people give the movie a chance.

Watched Monster trucks today with my five year old son and we both loved it. He was pretty much glued to the screen the entire time and he got a bit teary at the end! The film centres on a lad who spends all his spare time building a truck at a junkyard he helps out around, three undiscovered squid like creatures escape from a nearby oil drilling project. One of these finds his way into the truck and ends up powering it and of course the usual bad guys want it back story line evolves. Nothing new in terms of originality or plot, in fact it had so many plot holes it was ridiculous but it's a kids film. Actors did a good job and the monsters were likable. Quite a lot of action and humour too, it's never dull. Definitely a boys/male film I think in my opinion. a kind of a cross between "the legend of the waterhorse", "ET" and "Herbie" Recommended.

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.

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.

"Monster Trucks" is one of those movies where you may not start out having much expectation about it but boy it proves you wrong. It's just a good old fashioned super fun action adventure that the entire family can enjoy. The concept may be a bit quirky, I admit, but if the kids laugh and they smile and their parents giggle, I think it's fair to say that "Monster Trucks" does exactly what it's supposed to do.

Directed by the guy who gave us "Ice Age," "Robots," and "Epic," "Monster Trucks" is about a high school senior named Tripp (Lucas Till) who builds his own truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. A nearby oil-drilling site's accident causes subterranean creatures to surface, two get caught by the greedy corporation while one escapes to the junkyard where Tripp works. Tripp encounters the new friend, names him Creech and turns out, Creech has the need for speed.

I think "Monster Trucks" is the most exciting and hilarious feel-good family movie since Disney's "Alexander And The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day," a few years ago. In fact I think those two are quite alike in a lot of ways. Sure "Alexander" didn't have the melding cutting edge VFX and state of the art CGI that "Monster Trucks" has but in terms of the humor and tone, both movies aim to entertain and bring up good topics for the younger viewers.

Granted, it always cracks me up whenever I see people in their late 20s playing high-schoolers, such is the case with Lucas Till and Jane Levy with their respective characters, but that's not anything new in this business, and the actual star here is really the creature Creech who drinks oil and loves to ride fast. The car chases are also surprisingly inventive for a family movie, they're no "French Connection" or "Ronin" obviously but they certainly capitalize on Creech's abilities to make Tripp's truck do the impossible. The movie even frequently plays with heights which gives you that roller coaster thrill. All in all, "Monster Trucks" is an excellent way to start this new year for your family at the movies.

-- Rama's Screen --