Love And Monsters 4K UHD Review
“Love And Monsters” is 2020’s best film.
In the world of “Love And Monsters,” humanity was about to be destroyed by an asteroid until it was blown up. Alas the chemicals from the rockets caused amphibians and insects to mutate into gigantic creatures that wiped out 95% of the human population. The survivors hid underground (or wherever they could) to survive. The story focuses on a young human survivor named Joel who lives in a tight-knit colony community, but he feels lonely and wishes to be with his girlfriend Aimee who lives in another colony. Joel decides to throw caution to the wind to see his girlfriend for the first time in 7 years. The only problem is he has to traverse the dangerous above ground terrain to meet his love. Worse still, Joel isn’t exactly the survivalist type. He’s more of the freeze in the face of danger type. Can the out of his depth Joel learn to survive or will he be doomed in his quest?
“Love And Monsters” is the type of surprising gem that I love. Initially planned for a theatrical release in 2021, the multi-genre feature was moved up to a VOD release back in October 2020. Despite being well received, the movie went under the radar and didn’t get a ton of publicity. Hopefully, that can be rectified on home video as this deserves to be the next big cult movie favorite.
What makes director Michael Matthews’ “Love And Monsters” such a rewarding viewing experience is that it’s everything rolled into one. It’s a post-apoc movie, a dog movie, a pirate movie, a giant monster movie, a comedy movie, a sci-fi movie, a romance movie, and a coming-of-age movie. That may sound like a lot, but it all mixes together seamlessly. Sure, it clearly pays homage to the likes of “Godzilla,” “A Boy And His Dog,” “Zombieland,” and “Stand By Me,” but it does so in a loving fashion all while creating a fun and poignant original story.
While the very visual “Love And Monsters” is certainly filled with first rate production values and exciting action involving everything from a giant frog and a giant crab, the film succeeds because it feels like the perfect movie for now. In the dark year that was 2020, the post-apocalyptic “Love And Monsters” is a hopeful story about the things that are important and integral to life- community, change, connections, survival, overcoming obstacles and fear, learning (and learning from mistakes), taking a chance, heroism, living, processing tragedies, and dealing with things not turning out the way you hoped. Again, it sounds like a lot for one movie, but it all feels organic to the heartfelt story being told here by writers Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson.
You can’t ask for a better cast here. Dylan O’Brien is pitch perfect as the kind hearted bumbling hero who can clearly adapt to whatever comes his way. Rising star Jessica Henwick shines as Aimee who undergoes quite a transformation through her character journey. Michael Rooker (Clyde) is great as per usual. The two scene stealers, however, are Ariana Greenblatt (who plays kid survivalist Minnow) and the Australian Kelpie dog Hero who plays Boy. There’s no “The Call of the Wild” CGI dog nonsense here, folks. Boy is easily one of the best cinematic dog characters since Uggie from “The Artist.”
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 2160p. How does it look? A pristine print. The creatures and location shooting look nothing short of breathtaking.
Audio Track: 7.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? This. Track. Rules. Loved hearing the individual sounds of the monsters in such a dynamic way.
Extras:
* Blu-ray copy and Digital copy
* “It’s A Monster’s World: Creating A Post-Apocalyptic Landscape”- A featurette about the location shooting in Australia, the practical effects, the sets, and the cinematography.
* 6 deleted scenes
* “Bottom Of The Food Chain: The Cast Of Love And Monsters”- The title says it all.
1 Comment »
Leave a Reply
Share This Blog
Robert Ham
dmanderson
Andrea
nicklyons1
DVD Corner's blog 
I have to check this one out!