The Facts
Monster Truck was released in theaters on January 13th, 2017. It was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies and directed by Chris Wedge (who also co-directed Ice Age) It has a runtime of 104 minutes and has a PG rating.
Synopsis
Tripp is a teen living in a small town in North Dakota. He is disenchanted with his hometown and the greedy oil company, Terravex, whose headquarters are nearby. While Terravex has certainly brought jobs to the community Tripp has no love for the company that gave his deadbeat father a job after he abandoned Tripp and his mother.
Tripp’s mom is dating the local sheriff, Rick; and Rick and Tripp’s relationship is far from amicable. Tripp doesn’t trust Rick to stick around and Rick views Tripp as a troubled teen looking for ways to cause trouble. In fact, at one point during the film Tripp calls the Sheriff’s department for help and Rick accuses him of simply trying to cause trouble and waste his time.
Tripp works part-time at a junkyard, owned by kind, old Mr. Weathers, and spends most of his free time repairing an old beat up, Dodge truck. A truck that is missing one crucial element…an engine. It is while attempting to install an engine in his truck that Tripp stumbles upon his first real-life monster.
The monster formerly lived deep beneath deep beneath the earth, near an oil reservoir but was discovered by Terravex when they were attempting to drill for oil that was beneath an underground water system…the water system in which the monsters live. Terravex caught two monsters but this young one was able to escape and make it all the way to the junkyard.
While at first fearful of the monster, Tripp tries to capture it, but soon realizes it is nothing to fear but is instead a lovable, intelligent, oil-guzzling beast (oh yeah, it likes to drink oil). Tripp soon realizes that the monster fits nicely inside of his truck (when it has to hide in there to avoid being found by Terravex’s hired hand) and once Tripp makes a few adjustments to his truck, the monster is able to serve as the engine of his truck…thus the “Monster Truck” is born.
Tripp quickly bonds which the monster, whom he names “Creech” and the two, along with Tripp’s classmate Meredith embark on an amazing and action-packed journey to save Creech from the Terravex brute, Burke, who is on a mission to find and destroy Creech and all of his kind.
The Good
Well, Rob Lowe shows up in the very first scene and Rob Lowe is freaking Rob Lowe so that’s pretty cool. But, Rob Lowe aside this movie actually has several endearing aspects to it…
To begin with. there’s the monster itself. Creech is really right at the heart of this film. He is a sweet, goofy, lovable monster who ends up bringing out the best in Tripp. The CGI effects are also very well done and help the audience buy the fact that there really is an oil guzzling monster that has taken up residence in Tripp’s beat up old truck.
Creech also helps, later on in the film, to show the importance of family and loyalty. I’m always a big fan of positive messages in films, especially when I’m watching it with my family so I was very pleased with part of the film. In general, Creech, serves as a catalyst for good. He helps Tripp look outside himself and his own problems and gives him a reason to look out for someone else. He also leads to all the positive relationships Tripp has in the film. I mean, how can you not love a sweet monster who brings out the best in those around him.
This film also shares important messages about protecting the environment and animal habitats. It also teaches about the importance of teamwork.
Lucas Till’s portrayal of Tripp isn’t half bad either. Given the fact that this film is by no means an Oscar worthy piece of work Lucas manages to breath life into Tripp, who could otherwise come off as stale and formulaic. It’s clear that Lucas has talent and he does a good job of selling the whole “there’s a monster living in my truck” thing.
Jane Levy as Meredith is also a plus. Jane does a good job of playing the nerdy, but brave Meredith and she has good chemistry with Lucas Till. Jane and Tripp’s relationship starts off rocky but develops into a great friendship/relationship by the end of the film. Their dynamic is sweet and it’s clear that their characters help one another grow and become better people. Tripp helps bring Meredith out of her shell and Meredith helps Tripp realize he can care about more than himself and his problems. In fact, Meredith is the one who initially suggests to Tripp that he should help reunite Creech with his family.
The Bad
There are definitely some cringe-worthy one-liners and overall the writing isn’t the best. Plus the movie is very predictable.
Oh, and Rob Lowe isn’t in the film nearly as often as he should be. I mean, if you have Rob Lowe on staff, use him.
The movie also fails to develop or delve into relationships that could use a bit of delving. The movie doesn’t do a very good job of showing how Tripp and Sheriff Rick’s relationship changes over the course of the movie, it feels like it just suddenly changes and all the bad blood between the two of them is fixed in a matter of minutes.
Tripp and his mother’s relationship is also severely underdeveloped, we only see her briefly at the very beginning and the very end. Her lack of presence in the film leaves the viewer wondering why she isn’t worried about the fact that her son hasn’t been home for days (you know, while he’s off trying to save Creech.) All I’m saying is, if my angsty teenage son didn’t come home multiple nights in a row I would maybe do more then ask my cop boyfriend to check on him ONE TIME. Like, go look for him yourself, he doesn’t even like your boyfriend.
To use the popular social media acronym there are a lot of parts in this film that will have you SMH. (that’s what the cool kids say, right?) For reference SMH stands for shaking my head and is used when referencing something absurd or ridiculous…and there’s a lot of that in this film.
Also, and this by no means an unheard of practice in the world of film but the actor and actress who play Tripp and Meredith are clearly too old for highschool. Once again, a lot of movies and shows do this but I thought it was worth mentioning. Granted their 20+ year age is probably part of the reason they were able to act as well as they did but that’s a note for the good section of this review and right now we are talking about the bad…so the bad; Tripp and Meredith are clearly not highschool age. For reference, at the time they made the film Lucas and Jane (who play Tripp and Meredith) were around 26 and 27 years old.
In all bluntness, I would have to say that this film is only worth watching if you’re watching it with kids. AKA if you’re not having a family movie night then don’t bother watching this…trust me.
This is geared for kids and tweens and it’s only enjoyable to adults if you’re seeing how much your kids likes it. Without a kid around to giggle at all the jokes, this is nothing more than a predictable movie with bad writing and an unexplainably absentee mother*
*ok, so maybe that’s mostly just my personal beef, but even if your highschool son is actually 26, you should still at least try to look for him when he goes missing for days; I mean why not just call the film “Tripp Finds a Monster and Disappears and His Mom Doesn’t Notice”
The In Between
There are a few things about the film that I wouldn’t describe as either good or bad but they are things you may want to take into consideration before watching this film with your kids…
- The Bad Guys. Burke is the main “bad guy” of this movie and he does threaten to hurt Tripp and the monsters. He also initiates some car chase scenes that put Tripp in dangerous situations. He never actually harms Tripp and in general is not a scary bad guy, but if you have kids who are really sensitive to any sort of bad guy then you may want to avoid having them watch this film.
- The Destruction. Throughout the course of the film there is a lot of property destroyed and a few vehicles stolen. Most of the damage happens during the car chase scenes and it never specifically shows anyone getting hurt but cars do get flipped and things do get destroyed.
- There are no traditional monster trucks. I just want to clarify that for you all. It’s called “Monster Trucks” because there are big trucks that have monsters where the engines should be..that’s it, big trucks with monsters in them. I just didn’t want y’all to go in there expecting so see some Monster Jam action and walk away disappointed.
The Final Opinion
Honestly, the movie ended up being better than I thought it would be. I went in with pretty low expectations, and by that I meant I went in assuming I would hate this movie. I thought this movie would be a non-stop cringe-fest based off a barely clever pun…but I was wrong. Not, about the barely clever pun, but about other things. While it certainly had its flaws, it was also certainly not terrible. My son loved it and it had him belly laughing on multiple occasions. It was a fun family film that all my kids enjoyed watching.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of recognizable actors/actresses there were in the film. I was certainly not expecting to see anyone of note in the film and I was obviously wrong. The strong cast definitely had a positive impact of this film, I don’t know that a group of unknown actors/actresses could have pulled off this film.
I especially liked that it was absent of any of the crude, innuendo humor that movie producers think they need to sneak into kid films in the hopes of appealing to the parents.Honestly, why do they think that’s a good idea? It doesn’t make any of the annoying kid humor less annoying and it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a kid movie. All it really does is lessen the likelihood of me letting my kids watch it ever again. But, luckily this film is absent of all those questionable jokes and suggestive one-liners that you have to worry your kids will catch, and it is a huge relief. This film is goofy, innocent fun and seeing how much my kids liked it made me enjoy it more.
I mean yes it’s an absolutely absurd premise and the writing is subpar but aren’t most kid/family films the same? Absurd premises are exactly the right kind of premises for silly, sweet. imaginative kids. A 6-year-old kid can absolutely buy the idea that a real-life monster has decided to take up residence in someone’s truck. And they will certainly love this specific, oil guzzling monster. Creech makes the film and I guarantee your kids will be a huge fan of him and all his lovable antics. This film is filled with humor and heart and will have your kids belly laughing a couple of times.
It’s a new play on a story we’ve heard before but it’s a story that works. Now, I’m not comparing quality here, I’m just comparing general storyline, but think E.T. or the first season of Stranger Things. An unsuspecting kid finds a monster (substitute alien, or government test subject) and then bonds with it. That bond leads to the kid helping the monster, alien or test subject escape from the people who want to study or harm it, and there’s some character growth and development along the way. And also, the mom has no idea any of it is going on.
Okay so with all this being said, I obviously wouldn’t recommend this as a date night film and I wouldn’t even begin to suggest that it is worthy of any sort of critical acclaim but, don’t let its box-office flop status scare you away, okay? Because I would wholeheartedly recommend it for a family movie night. It’s lighthearted and a feel good film, and it’s sure to be a hit with your kids and it’s sure to be better than other kid movies you’ve had to sit through before. I personally found it far less painful than all the Ice Age movies and few other films as well. So, grab your popcorn and your Red Vines (the superior licorice) and get ready for a relatively painless movie watching experience with your kids. You, yourself might even chuckle a time or two…I mean. Maybe, I don’t know you personally but it’s definitely a possibility.
Cast
Tripp played by Lucas Till
-You may recognize Lucas from his title role on the new MacGuyver series, he also had a role in X-Men First Class and X-Men Apocalypse. Along with these titles he also has several other title credits to his name
Meredith played by Jane Levy
-Jane is probably best known for her role as Tessa Altman in the TV series Suburgatory
Sheriff Rick played by Barry Pepper
-Barry has been in many notable films, including Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile and True Grit
Jim Dowd played by Thomas Lennon
-Thomas Lennon has certainly been around, he has hard parts in numerous TV shows and Movies; including Reno 911 and Seventeen Again
Reece Tenneson played by Rob Lowe
-Rob Lowe, I mean what hasn’t he been in? St. Elmo’s Fire, The West Wing, Austin Powers, Park and Recreation…and that’s just the tip of the iceberg
Mr. Weathers played by Danny Glover
-You may have heard of Danny Glover from a little film called Lethal Weapon, or maybe its sequels Lethal Weapon 2 or Lethal Weapon 3
Cindy played by Amy Ryan
-Amy has also been in numerous TV shows and movies. Most notably, The Office, The Naked Truth and Beautiful Boy
Burke played by Holt McCallany
-Holt McCallany is fairly well known in the TV world, he has had roles in CSI: Miami, Heroes and Mindhunter
Wade Coley played by Frank Whaley
-Frank has no shortage of TV and film credits to his name; Pulp Fiction, Luke Cage and Pursuit of Happiness…to name a few
