Love and Monsters

 This was a lovely surprise because it's actually a really watchable and enjoyable film. 

The premise is that 95% of the human population have been killed by the monsterpocalypse- Earth's cold-blooded creatures have mutated into giant monsters. Joel (Dylan O'Brien) lives in one of many underground bunkers but finds life difficult as the only single person living there and without many skills. He decides to head out to the surface to travel to meet his high-school girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick) who he has been in contact with over radio.

In some ways it's not the most original of films and derives material from the likes of Zombieland and I am Legend but it comes together to become it's own thing. The idea of the monsters being mutated reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates is great and despite the premise being silly it felt easier to connect to than simply using zombies or aliens. I really like that the film promotes a respect for nature and as much as it gives us huge monsters and action sequences it also shows us the beauty of the natural world, even this mutated one. 

Though this is a film set in a post-apocalyptical world it carefully manages the bleakness, acknowledging that it exists but not focusing on it. Instead the film is actually really sweet. Joel befriends a dog called Boy and we see them travelling around evading monsters together and it's rather lovely. There's a moment when they meet a robot called MAV1S who has limited battery life and that's a surprisingly sweet moment. Michael Rooker appears in his least rouge-ish role yet as the charming survival expert Clyde alongside his adopted daughter Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt). The whole premise of Joel going to find Aimee is lovely and the scenes between the two are great. The whole thing couldn't be more charming.

Dylan O'Brien gives a surprisingly excellent lead performance in this film which you wouldn't necessarily expect from the star of The Maze Runner. His character begins the film as being a bit useless and freezes if he comes face to face with a monster but undergoes proper character development that results in him being an inspiration for whole colonies. The character has an almost Buster Keaton feel about it- Keaton's characters always began as useless but when faced with outrageous circumstances and a motivation of a pretty girl managed to save the day and earn the respect of the community. That's very much the vibe that's going on here and I liked it. 

Post-apocalypse films often choose to tell us something about humanity by showing us how awful we are but Love and Monsters heads for the opposite direction. Sure, it's not the most original film but it comes together into something really lovely.