Monstres sur roues

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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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.

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

"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 --