Love and Monsters
An eventful post-apocalyptic yarn might just prove engaging for the undemanding and young-at-heart.
Monster Apocalypse: Dylan O'Brien
The future is not looking good. However, it is neither plague nor pollution, not nuclear war nor alien invasion that is threatening the end of the world. Instead, it’s a bloody great asteroid (dubbed, for some reason, Agatha 616). Hurtling towards Earth, Agatha is intercepted by a salvo of rockets that destroy it but in the process unleash an unprecedented amount of chemical compounds into the planet’s atmosphere. And, as is so often the case, the cure turns out to be more deadly than the disease. The chemical compounds, once absorbed into the eco-system, cause every insect, lizard and crocodile to mutate – to unparalleled dimensions. Within a year, 95% of the world’s human population has become lunch. Joel Dawson, a 17-year-old from Fairfield, California, now lives in an underground bunker with a ragtag band of survivors and is missing his girlfriend, Aimee (Jessica Henwick). Seven years later, he decides to leave the safety and love of his new family to find Aimee – 85 miles away.
Few post-apocalyptic movies start with such a spring in their step. Narrated by Joel (Dylan O’Brien), and accompanied by images of global tourist destinations in ruin, the film segues into a jokey animated explanation of this new Armageddon. But Joel looks on the bright side: “It’s not as bad as it sounds. Really. It’s a great group of people, and we all love each other. It’s kinda what I imagined college would have been like.” Luckily for Joel, his new colleagues prove pretty adept at survival, while he monitors the radio and cooks up a mean minestrone. He is also a skilled draughtsman and illustrates a running journal of events and of the worst creepy-crawlies to avoid. He titles his log ‘Monster Apocalypse,’ which would’ve been a better title for the movie. However, a potentially Spielbergian air is undermined by a more dumbed-down approach, which smells of the collaborative spirit of the producer Shawn Levy. Levy, whose credits include Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Pink Panther 2, Date Night and Table 19, is more popcorn populist than innovative storyteller. Had he allowed the director Michael Matthews to introduce a little more realism, the scares would have been greater, and so, too, the laughs.
As it is, Love and Monsters largely aims for the lowest common denominator; in essence closer to Fantasy Island than Jurassic Park. The monsters are more comic than frightening, while Dylan O'Brien is not exactly a young Billy Crystal. His perpetual monologues are meant to be funny but soon become tedious as any concomitant sense of threat appears to be cursory. And after good scenes with Michael Rooker as a tough survivalist – and a delightful performance from Ariana Greenblatt as the latter’s feral young companion – the film descends into silliness. By the end, it all feels as uninspired as the title. Still, the jaunty score is fun and the Queensland locations (doubling for California) are suitably eye-catching. And no doubt dog lovers will be beguiled by Joel’s constant canine companion, Boy.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Dylan O'Brien, Jessica Henwick, Dan Ewing, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Rooker, Ellen Hollman, Pacharo Mzembe, Senie Priti, Joel Pierce, Bruce Spence, Hazel Phillips, Andrew Buchanan, Tandi Wright, and Melanie Zanetti as the voice of Mavis.
Dir Michael Matthews, Pro Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen, Screenplay Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson, Ph Lachlan Milne, Pro Des Dan Hennah, Ed Debbie Berman and Nancy Richardson, Music Marco Beltrami and Marcus Trumpp, Costumes Luis Sequeira, Dialect coach Gabrielle Rogers.
21 Laps Entertainment/Entertainment One-Netflix.
110 mins. USA/Canada. 2020. Rel: 14 April 2021. Available on Netflix. Cert. 12.
