(CCR Original Content) Little Monsters Review [Spoiler Free Review & Spoiler Review below picture] (7/10)
Little Monsters is a 2019 zombie/comedy movie written and directed by Abe Forsythe. Producers on the film included Jodi Matterson, Bruna Papandrea, Steve Hutensky, Keith Calder and Jessica Calder. The movie was produced by Screen Australia, Protagonist Pictures, Made Up Stories, Snoot Entertainment and NEON and was distributed by Hulu and Altitude. The film stars actors Lupita Nyong'o, Alexander England, Kat Stewart, Diesel La Torraca and Josh Gad.
Foul-mouthed Dave (Alexander England), a washed up musician is forced to live with his sister Tess (Kat Stewart) and her son Felix (Diesel La Torraca) as he goes through a rough break up with his girlfriend. Dave meets Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong'o), Felix's teacher, while dropping off Felix at school and volunteers to chaperone when a parent drops out from an upcoming field trip to a farm. Upset after learning children's television personality Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad) is filming there, those are the least of Dave's troubles as zombies break out of an adjacent U.S. testing facility heading straight for the farm.
This movie was pretty good. It was a welcome contrast from most zombie movies I've seen but at the same time fit nicely in the same vein. It was slow going in the beginning but it was worth it because the time was spent getting you invested in a couple of the main characters, mainly Dave and his nephew Felix. I also really enjoyed the comedy/humor in a lot of the scenes in the beginning and the dialogue which lead to some really funny scenes and memorable quotes. Lupita Nyong'o did a great job in this film as teacher Miss Caroline and the class of children made this film a unique zombie movie experience. Josh Gad was quite the heel in this movie but was a likeable/hate-able comic relief in some of the more tense moments in the movie. I like how the plot was simple but the characters were given the right motivations to make the story believable and the development that happens characters more natural. Although some of the plot was predictable and cliche I think they were able to incorporate a few original ideas in unique ways that fit the genre nicely. I have to say that I really enjoyed this movie a lot and I give it a 7/10 and it gets my "Must See Seal Of Approval". It was good as a comedy and a zombie movie and a zombie/comedy.
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Spoiler Review Section:
This movie was pretty good. I enjoyed it quite a bit and even though it had somethings that were predictable and cliché, it really was unique in its own way. It really had me invested in the main character Dave from the beginning because of his situation. After his break up his living on the couch at his sisters and getting in trouble for cussing and being a bad role model for his nephew. He gets in trouble for letting his nephew play violent video games and for taking him out late at night to use him as a prop when his plans to propose to his ex-g/f that goes horribly wrong. That scene was hilarious as his surprise proposal leads to him and his nephew catching his ex having sex with another man and the naked man beating him up. It's kind of slow moving plot wise with all this setup but you get invested in the characters and they mean more to you and you better understand their motivations. Dave winds up taking his nephew to school and when he sees his attractive teacher Miss Coraline played by Lupita Nyong'o he's more than happy to volunteer to chaperone on a field trip when another parent drops out. At the field trip on the farm is when your officially introduced to Josh Gad's character Teddy McGiggle who is filming his children's show there. Teddy winds up being nothing like he pretends to be and shows his true colors when the trouble starts up. The zombies from a U.S. testing facility break free and head straight to the farm attacking anyone and everyone they see. I thought they did a good job on the zombies and make-up/special effects since most scenes happen during the day. There wasn't as much action or blood as I wanted but there were always scenes that built the tension and made sure danger was always present. The character development from Dave was really good and made him one of my favorite characters but Miss Caroline was a real badass. She demonstrated that she would do anything to protect those kids and let Teddy McGiggle know that she would take care of him too if he didn't cooperate. As i mentioned some of it was predictable like there being a facility where there were zombies, and the zombies breaking out, the military not being able to do anything to contain it at first, and it spreading so quickly. But it was unique in bringing the kids into the situation and how Miss Coraline made it into a game so the kids wouldn't be scared, how she got them to focus on her so they didn't look at the zombies alot, and how the zombies started singing along towards the end. Like I said above pretty good movie, I give it 7/10 and my "Must See Seal Of Approval". If you haven't seen this movie you need to check it out.