Review of Monster Trucks (2016) by Patrick L — 15 Jun 2017

"This very juvenile and stupid movie could've been more hip and clever but as it is "Monster Trucks" contains cornball plot elements and visual effects that look dated".

DVD Movie Review: Monster Trucks.

Date Viewed: April 20 2017.

Directed By Chris Wedge (Ice Age and Robots).

Screenplay By Derek Connolly, Story By Matthew Robinson, Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

Starring: Lucas Till, Jane Levy, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Barry Pepper, Amy Ryan, Holt McCallany, Frank Whaley, Thomas Lennon and Tucker Albrizzi.

What a weird blast of 60s nostalgia this was! The best thing I can say about "Monster Trucks" is that it's not quite as awful as you have imagined from the trailers and TV spots. I'm painfully aware that it's really dumb, I'm painfully aware that Paramount took a $115 million write-off on this and Yes! I'm also painfully aware that this movie was actually inspired by an idea from a studio executive's four-year-old son. It's not fake news people, a studio executive's four-year-old son conceived this idea and then Paramount brought it to life with the help of director Chris Wedge who previously directed the first "Ice Age" film and "Robots".

As I mentioned, it's dumb and also noisy but at least there was creative effort put into it and it's more comforting to sit through than any of the "Transformers" sequels. "Monster Trucks" kind of reminded me of those cheesy Disney kiddie flicks from the 60s and early 70s, those were the days Kurt Russell dominated the teen beefcake market. "Monster Trucks" revolves around a high school senior named Tripp (Lucas Till), he lives in North Dakota with his mother, Cindy (Amy Ryan) and she's currently in a relationship with a local sheriff named Rick (Barry Pepper). Tripp's mother used to be married to his oil worker dad, Wade (Frank Whaley) but the two of them divorced and Tripp was sent to live with his mother.

Meanwhile, a fracking accident occurs at Terravex Oil's property and a drilling rig gets destroyed. The oil workers and Terravex CEO Reece Tenneson (Rob Lowe) are shocked to discover three subterranean creatures pop out of the ground. Two of them get captured by Terravex but one of them is still on the loose which leads Reece to hire a mercenary named Burke (Holt McCallany) to capture the remaining creature and finish the job. In addition to being in school, Tripp also has a part-time job working at a local junkyard run by his paraplegic boss, Mr. Weathers (Danny Glover) but Tripp wants to have a better life than the life he has now and he's hoping to get away from his cruddy life and small town for good.

One night, Tripp hears noises in the junkyard which leads to him encountering a huge sea-like creature with tentacles. Tripp later finds that the creature is not that frightening and he takes him in as his new friend. Tripp has also been building a pickup truck by using the bits and pieces of scrapped cars but when the creature takes shelter within the hood of his truck, Tripp has some pretty interesting activities he can do with his monster truck and he befriends the creature by naming it Creech.

Tripp doesn't want anybody in town to know about the creature but his classmate and possible love interest, Meredith (Jane Levy, from "Don't Breathe") finds out about the creature. Meredith goes friendly with the creature eventually and she and Tripp want to find out where Creech came from. The two teens later find out that Terravex is holding Creech's parents captive in containment and Burke and his henchmen want Creech captured. Burke is one crazy lunatic of a mercenary because he has no sympathy for human life.

If I were eight-years-old again, I would've really enjoyed this movie but I'm not one of those kids anymore. I'm 25 so it's a tough roadblock for "Monster Trucks" to crush through. The likeable performers give solid performances as their Disney, 70s-esque, fun and zany counterparts. Amy Ryan and Danny Glover play nice and caring townspeople but they aren't given enough screentime and despite giving her all here, Jane Levy has a nothing role as Tripp's classmate and maybe love interest. As for Lucas Till, he doesn't make for a good leading man and his performance is awkwardly stiff and completely one-note.

Rob Lowe chews it up and spits it down big time here in a hammy performance as a no-good oil tycoon who carries a curious name. Reece Tenneson? Where did he get that name from? Did he get that similar name from a former ExxonMobil CEO who's now the Secretary of State? The screenplay by Derek Connolly (Jurassic World, Kong: Skull Island), Matthew Robinson (The Power Inside, Black Box), Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (Monsters vs. Aliens, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel and Chipwrecked, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and Trolls) maybe by-the-numbers but it's not exactly a car wreck.

This very juvenile and stupid movie could've been more hip and clever but as it is "Monster Trucks" contains cornball plot elements and visual effects that look dated.