Monster Island

HEADS UP!! I am a 14 year old autistic girl, this review is based on my opinion but everyone has their own.

This movie has been my hyper fixation since 2020, when I first watched it, during lockdown I watched it at least once every 3 days. This movie can never fail to put a smile on my face an make me laugh out loud. Each time I watch this film it feels as if I'm watching it for the first time. Now my opinion may be biased since this movie carries many good memories for me but I do truly believe it deserves alot more attention. It's not perfect but it is a very enjoyable watch!

As I was 9 when I first watched this movie, I found it very amusing so I would recommend it for that age range, 9+. There are some frightening scenes, but nothing too scary. Alongside the 'scary-ish' scenes are many funny scenes, heart felt dialogue and much more.

If I was to compare it to another movie, I would say it is around the same 'scare- factor' as movies such as 'box trolls' or 'paranormal' (which I also recommend)

I do wish this movie had more recognition since it is one of my favourite films. My go to recommendation!!

This film actually surprised me with how good it was and made me laugh which was a great thing. I liked that it showed the bad guy throughout the movie and his plans as well as showing the boys and how he goes from a normal boy to a monster and then saving the day.

Great family film and one I will definitely watch again.

Lucas is desperate to go to the big Halloween party. After being implicated in a classroom incident, his father grounds him. He sneaks out to the party anyways. The class bully and his girlfriend play a prank on him. The stress turns him into a monster. It turns out that his family are secret monsters and his inhaler has been delivering a medicine blocking his monster-self. His father reveals that they come from Monster Island.

The CG animation is weak from an earlier generation. I actually like the opening premise. I would have liked to see Lucas going back to school and dealing with being a monster in the human world. Monster Island is not as monstrous as I want it to be. This may be fine for preteen kids. Otherwise, there isn't enough for anyone else.

It's traditional in most movies to have what's called a colour palette, a finite range of colours which sets a mood and makes it easier on the eye, this movie eschews this tradition. Its standard of computer graphics reminds me of old Playstation FMV scenes that played out inbetween the game play, except with ALL THE COLOURS!!

The animation itself isn't that bad, but it has that unsubtle mime-like kind of motion where everyone ducks, shrugs and gesticulates on every syllable whilst the camera floats from point to point in every scene. The voice acting often has that sound like someONE reading from a SCRIPT with no IDEA about the conTEXT or CHARacter, but they can do a funny voice or three so just read it with FEELING!

The story itself is a reasonably well paced paint-by-numbers tale of going on a journey of self discovery, a 'child becomes a man' fantasy adventure, with the monster angle being used as an unsubtle analogy for adolescence, and by the end the currently obligatory single parent learns their lesson and promises to do better, everybody hugs, hearts are warmed with an upbeat pop song and a wink to camera, credits roll.

It's a rainbow coloured cliche, but that won't put off those still young enough to enjoy it.

Good animation, likeable characters and it kept my 3yr old quiet for an hour and a half.