Love and Monsters

RATING: A-

Here's yet another movie that got heavily victimized by the pandemic in 2020. After things went crazy, Paramount just gave up on this one and sent it to video on demand (and about a meager 400 theaters)--without much regard for promotion, even. It probably would've gone by with few having heard of it except for the fact that reviews were quite positive, which helped draw some attention to it. And ultimately, the critic and audience hype is to be believed--this is a movie that deserved much, much better than to get sent to a fate like VOD. 

This is a unique mash of genres--post-apocalyptic adventure mixed with a coming-of-age story (plus a dash of comedy--dark comedy, even--and romance). The former we've seen quite a lot of in the past decade; the latter has faded in recent years. Oh, and by the way, it's an original story with no source material--that's another trope we don't see much of anymore. 

In this version of the apocalypse, instead of nuclear war or an asteroid or aliens... it's bugs and small creatures of our own Earth growing to giant size and mutating, which then lay waste to the planet and drive the remaining humans underground to survive. The opening which explains this in about two or three minutes treats the whole thing with a certain dark lighthearted tone at times, setting the stage for the kind of semi-quirky adventure this will be. Joel (Dylan O'Brien), our restless protagonist, decides to leave his "colony" to go and find his former girlfriend Aimee's (Jessica Henwick) colony. Only 85 miles away. No big deal, right?

This kind of is a big deal, actually, when creatures like giant ants, centipedes, and other crazy mutations await. There's a reason people don't go to the surface anymore except for gathering supplies and what not. Doesn't help matters that Joel is kind of useless in combat mostly due to a "freezing up" issue. But he'll get some help (in the form of a dog, Michael Rooker, and a little girl who's with Rooker's character), and there will be plenty of adventures along the way. 

The premise is interesting enough in of itself, but the movie more than lives up to it. Let's start with the creatures, because they're a big part of the attraction. The giant bugs/monsters are wonderfully designed--quite well-detailed, and don't even rely heavily on CGI (another unusual thing these days, for all of CGI's benefits). There's even occasionally a level of personality to them, and how well crafted they are is a big part of what makes this work. 

Another big part of it, though, is Dylan O'Brien carrying the movie--especially since he spends about a third of the length talking either to himself, a dog, or something else non-human. A lot of the performance is played as dry/deadpan humor, but he sells almost every part of his performance even when it requires more subtlety. Props to Henwick and Rooker too (and the newcomer Ariana Greenblatt does well too), but O'Brien stands out the most. If you weren't sold on him after the Maze Runner trilogy, you should be by now. 

This movie has some other pleasant surprises up its sleeve as well--whether it's making the normal dog just as much of a character as the human ones, making a scene involving a robot the most emotionally impactful, or not relying on heavy spectacle for its climactic sequence while still being effectively exciting--not to mention the more realistic addressing of how Joel's continued crush ultimately plays out. 

Love and Monsters does a *lot* of things right--meshes its genres/tropes together seamlessly, creates well-crafted "monsters," and has a genuinely interesting plot and characters. The movie's also well-paced with scarcely a moment of boredom, and ultimately gives a satisfying (if somewhat bittersweet) conclusion. As far as adventure movies go, it's probably both the best of the past year and the most original/able to stand out in a crowded genre.