User reviews

It is very entertaining. But it could be better. It is very similar to the Mask Dancer, just an CGI version. The judges do a good job, even though sometimes their critiques are contradictory. I think what brings down the entertainment level of the show for me is the music selections and the choreography. The music on the show is dated and not conducive to a very good performance. Also, I think some of the choreography is weak. The weak choreography was very evident when 2 people who were up for elimination had to dance against each other and they both did a very good job. Their freestyle/dance battle was 100 times better than their choreography. Which led to a very hard elimination choice. But all in all it is a decent show, I just hope that if it is up for another season that they will work on the music and the choreography given to the contestants.

Dance Monsters is yet another in a long line of reality singing and dancing competitions. Hosted by Ashley Roberts, with Ne-Yo, Lele Pons, and Ashey Banjo as the panel of judges, the show has 15 dancers compete to see who will be the "Ultimate Dance Monster", a title that also nets the winner a whopping $250,000. The reason I use monster is because this show, like every other reality competition, has a twist, as the dancers competing are monsters on stage, be it robots, rock monsters, or animals who look like something out of a cartoon. Immediately, this feels like The Masked Singer, which does a similar thing, however, instead of putting the dancers in furry costumes that would be too hot, this show goes the next level and has them in motion capture suits, with the monsters being CGI, as the contestants have one thing in common: they don't have the confidence to dance on stage as themselves.

To be honest, I think this show is okay. Nothing special since it is another reality dance competition, but it is an okay one in my book. The CGI monsters are amazing, with the likes of Marsha, the marshmallow girl, Beti the yeti, Grummy the mummy, Hammer the hammerhead shark, and my personal favorite, Flame the fiery cat. Whoever did the CGI models needs an award, as they are so realistic.

However, what keeps it from being perfect is the fact that it seems not to change up much (while some rounds change things like having the monsters do duet dances, it does not do anything different). Also, each episode ends by cutting just as the final vote is put in, with the elimination being revealed at the start of the next episode (which while frustrating, thankfully, being on a streaming service makes it a bit more tolerable. Imagine if they did this on Fox and we had to wait until the next week's episode to find out who is losing their monster-sona and going home?) But still, it is a neat dance competition, and I would love to see it continue just to see more of the unique monsters they come up with.

The motion capture is visibly janky at many points throughout. The monsters are often weird and not even all that cute? The judges say a lot of odd, cringey things. One time a judge said something that was not funny whatsoever, but the crowd laughed really hard which means they're cutting and moving the audio around deceptively. I'm sure reality/competition shows do this all the time, but they could at least be sneaky about it.

Overall, the show has a nice/cute premise but the follow through is underwhelming. I hope a future iteration of the show, with more articulated facial muscles for the mocap, performs better.

It was a very entertaining show, and my 4 year old liked it a lot. My main issue, which has been stated in other reviews, was the judging. Even if you try to base the results on their commentary you will get it wrong. They were just seemingly putting through whoever they thought would attract views. They complain one person didn't do well compared to how they did previously but they kept them and voted off a great dancer anyway. Also, i kind of wish we could see what the audience is seeing. The cgi is clearly added for the show but it takes away from reality. Pretending like these high definition holograms exist ruins it for me.

Love the idea of this show, but the judges definitely fell short and almost made us completely stop watching. There were characters we would have loved to see more of, but instead the judges kept around a couple of one-trick ponies, and even an injured contestant who dropped out the next episode. Seemed like a couple of cheap shots for drama that really weren't needed. Also, please stop cutting to the judges' faces/predictable responses when all we want to see is the contestants dancing during their routines! Would love to see another season and enjoy the diffrent dancers and their unique styles, but swap out the judges or we aren't watching...

This show was a fun concept and I would probably watch a second season. That being said, the Judges are horrible. Ashley, at times, seems to be the only judge who actually understands dance but even he fails to mention the dancers skill and techniques. The jusdges never actually critique on skill or technique (like they should) but their "personality" and "energy". Neo and Lele openly admit to having their "favorites" So they are only picking the dancers who they like. And then there is Marsha. She literally only does three, maybe four, moves. She is repetitive, but somehow has made it quite far. After a while it is VERY clear the judges are not professional and only pick who they favor and not going off of their dances.

There is also this on going joke that Neo and Ashley keep reinforcing which is that Lele has a crush on the dancer Beti. It was very inappropriate. They were clearly uncomfortable.

If there's a second season they need to replace, at least, Neo and Lele with actual credible judges.

We enjoyed the dancing and the animated characters. But the constant cuts to the audience and judges detracts from the performances. And the judges comments were so vague as to be annoying.

We were amazes by the tech I volved. The characters seemed to real. Other real life dancers would often be behind them and it was seemless. Some characters suffered from faces that weren't as expressive.

It seemed cool that heavier dancers could compete on equal footing with dancers with a more traditional pyshique.

The reveals were great. When you got to see the actual people it was really a surprise. Fun show.

Almost stopped watching several times because the judges so clearly have favorites and made bizarre decisions. I give full credit to the dancers for accepting some truly questionable decisions with class and grace. Given the 250k on the line the judges should be making fair decisions.

Not even bothering to watch the final. If there is another season I won't bother watching unless they get some fair judging. And no, I don't know any of the competitors.

By the way- Who is this Lele? At least I have heard of the other judges. Fake window dressing! Really - cried? Bull. And she really is nothing special as a dancer from what I've seen.

I originally put this on for our 6 year old to watch! I found myself watching it by myself after he left the room and I couldn't stop! It's such a cute and fun show! I highly recommend this!! I am so ready for December 30th so I can watch more!! The only actual complaint I have is that I have to wait, I blew through the first 6 episodes and now I'm hooked and I need to know who wins! My husband thought I was watching a little kid show at first but once he sat down to actually watch it he got hooked as well! 10/10 would definitely watch this! It's a whole new take on dancing! And the monsters just make it that much more fun!

I wanted to like this and was looking forward to the first episode. The concept is fun, and I have to admit I don't really know how they pull off the graphics, so creds to the CGI. (It does make me wonder what the audience is actually seeing that we are not seeing on the final rendition.)

However there are several flaws in the show:

1. Unimaginative "large muppet" costumes that are big, heavy, clunky, and don't render the dance moves properly. It's possible to create a monster character that is slim enough and supple enough to actually dance.

2. The choreography is blase and uninspiring.

3. The dancers really aren't that good. Some may have been backup dancers at one time, but their moves now, some 15 to 20 years later, are not the quality we'd expect in this type of show. Again, the clunky 'monsters' make their poor dance routines even more disappointing.

4. Viewers mention getting tired of the cameras spending as much time on the judges as the dancers and I must agree completely. We're here to see the DANCERS, not the judges.

So all in all, this is a cute concept that flops. I stuck through the first two shows but have no desire to waste time to see "if it gets any better".... because I'm pretty sure it won't.

If they had slim, athletic, top-of-their-game dancers and monsters to match, this might have been a lot more fun. But I've seen better dancers on Instagram, the choreography really needs some work, and the monsters needed to be formed in a manner suited for dancing.

Thumbs up for the concept, two thumbs down for the execution. Wait... that's three thumbs. Well, it is a monster competition...

First of all, I wanna start with technology, it is just amazing! Omg, how could it be possible? Future will be so interesting. Kind of Ai technology and just incredible. I love all kind of dance show, I am a huge fan of strictly come dancing or dancing with stars. Of course this is different, they are not famous or not a pro dancer. ( they say so) As an idea, it is nice but at the same time it is so scary, because when you think 'they are not real' it is like hiding behind of a mask.. I don't know that makes me a little nervous. I am sure some people wants to live forever like that. In first episode, dances are so basic. Beti was good... Judges nothing gave me, neither energy nor a feeling. Maybe they are not famous in my country, I don't know. Anyway final words ; technology in this show is superb! ( I still don't understand how they leave the stage :))) behind of the curtains they are walking, right? It must be so difficult.)

Whacky concept perhaps, but adorably entertaining.

I was originally going to skip over this and give it a miss, but Netflix starts playing their content before you even decide to watch something. I became intrigued and extremely curious about how this was possible. I'm not even a fan of reality dance shows, but my curiosity had me wanting to know more.

Before I know it, I'm half way through the series and completely hook, line and sunk. I was loving it. This show is so out of the box, I don't think it's ever been done before. My love for animated content that the whole family can enjoy kept me watching to the end.

I even paused it after the 2nd episode to ring my sister and tell her she must watch it with her daughter. My sister is a former dancer and actually loves all those dance shows like "So You Think You Can Dance?".

I also watched the 'behind the scenes' special on Netflix's YouTube channel to get answers to many questions. The music along with the dancing monsters made for a really magical and entertaining experience. I hope they do another series.

Before I get started with my actual review let me just say a few things. First off I can't dance, and I don't even really care about dance shows at all. Second, all my kids are grown and I'm 50 years old.

Why in the world would I rate a silly monster dancing competition 10/10?

Reason number one:

The show is just a blast to watch. Which started as a silly joke watch with me and my wife had me scratching my head during the first episode thinking are these people in suits how are these monsters dancing so well in a stuffed suit and why are they so cool looking?

While I don't work in Hollywood or any movie sets for that matter, I do have a pretty keen eye for spotting bad CGI effects and this had me pretty darn fooled for a good portion of the first episode.

I couldn't care less whether this was rendered in real time or took several months of post production to complete. That's how TV should be- magical and new..

Reason number two:

The characters and vibe. Well the technology is Uber cool, what really makes the show work so well and so enjoyable to watch are the actual dancers. I don't know what it is about listening to real people's voices while watching a silly furry one-eyed monster, But it works extremely well for the show. The positive energy between the dancers and they're honest thoughts and commentary throughout the show elevates this beyond just some silly kid show. I sincerely cared about who was going to win the show by the end. I did not expect that to happen.

Reason number three:

Yes, I think this is going to revolutionize TV in the near future. I'm sure there are naysayers that will call out every glitch that happened during the show but I think they're missing the point. I connected more to these characters on a silly Netflix TV dance show that I have with 99% of any big budget Hollywood production CGI character including those blue avatars. I challenge you to show clips to your friends or family of the furry monsters dancing, without telling anyone what's actually going on, and see whether or not they think it's actually someone in a costume. After a while I stopped sharing whether it was CGI or not, I was just as interested in the back room scenes with the dancers talking among themselves as monsters as I was when they were actually performing.

Is this show perfect? Not really, but was it wildly entertaining and just as captivating as any big name show? Yes, absolutely. Am I excited to see more shows like this in the future? Yep!

10/10.

Literally a new take on the same old repetitive dance shows, am genuinely enjoying it more than any other reality competition show iv ever seen. Just enjoy it and take it in. Now I will agree that sometimes the animation seems a little off but I mean it's cutting edge technology to be able to project a character onto a stage as If it's actually there and I'm really impressed with it. Hoping that maybe they will do a singing competition like this as well so that it removes the look factor and just get talent shining through. I'm genuinely hooked and waiting for the last couple episodes to be released.

This show loves dance & loves dancers. Host Ashley Roberts keeps the show moving and is quick witted. Judges Lele Pons, Ne-Yo, & Ashley Banjo have a light hearted rapport while taking their duties seriously, making suggestions to improve each contestant's routine. I would love to see a dance routine with them as monsters!

The monster concept puts a twist on the usual dance contest rules. I enjoy the backup dancers; they are well worth rewatching the routine just to focus solely on their dancing. The CGI effects are incredible! The monsters are imaginative & colorful; they should have action figures of them sold on toy stores.

Many reviews about the quality of CGI, judging etc but for us it was wildly entertaining even after rewatching many times and convincing enough to wonder how they created some scenes.

Our 3 year old loves it to bits and this is one of the very few shows we truly enjoyed watching with her. Thanks to her we've been watching repeats of quarter finals upwards for more than a week 😅. For someone who is not a dance expert the judging resonated with my opinions too, although I would have loved the monster who came second to win 😊. The only time the CGI failed for me was when the audience seemed to be looking somewhere else sometimes, and this is after watching many repeats!

Great job in creating an entertaining show.

I don't understand why Dance Monsters has around a 5.2 on here. I enjoyed every second of this show and might even rewatch it, something I barely do with any show, and definitely not competition shows. The characters were fun, energetic and each with their own persona and distinguished talents. It's fun to see the dancers develop their performances every time they're on stage.

To me it didn't matter so much the monsters glitched here and there, the show itself didn't suffer and I can imagine it's difficult to put the effects together.

The judges weren't incredibly critical but if anything, that contributed to the feel-good vibe.

I was rooting for a few of my favorites the whole time.

Such a bummer it's not renewed for a season 2 yet :(

Really, couldn't take my eyes off the screen, it was hypnotic, never seen something like, not even pixar movies has this quality, GOD, this was like watching in a youtube video the best part of an modern animated movie, like, the dance epic scene, but many in a row! SO STUNNING, the visuals, the scenario, the monsters, the quality of the product WAS OFF CHARTS, I was so bored of all dance and singing competitions because that was original like 20 years ago, with American Idol, now tv has to do something original, new things, never thought they would do it and with a beautiful product like this, really, the monsters were so so so cute, with those happy faces making epic moves, like, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat, hope we get another season before Netflix cancel it like they always do :V.

We watched this as a family and LOVED it! The technology they used was really incredible. It was a heartfelt show and not completely over the top like other competition shows. It was really wonderful to hear the dancers stories and see them evolve.

If you want a show to watch as a family, this was a great one. People working hard to achieve dreams? A wonderful lesson.

Yes, we have seen competition shows before, but this was very unique. In terms of how they executed and incorporated the technology to create the monsters...really fantastic.

The judges were positive and constructive without being cruel. The host was enjoyable and not annoying like some.