★★½
(PG) 105 minutes
It's been a struggle to convince myself I didn't dream the plot of Monster Trucks, a film that dares to ask the question: what if trucks had actual monsters inside?
More Trailers Videos
- Video duration
- 02:06
Trailer: Monster Trucks
Trailer: Monster Trucks
Tripp, a high school senior, may have found the most unlikely friend after an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange creature with a taste and a talent for speed.
Up Next
Trailer: The Star
- Video duration
- 02:08
- Video duration
- 02:08
Trailer: The Star
Trailer: The Star
This holiday season, witness the story of the first Christmas... through a whole new set of eyes.
Up Next
Teaser: 'Wonderland' at ACMI
- Video duration
- 01:08
- Video duration
- 01:08
Teaser: 'Wonderland' at ACMI
Teaser: 'Wonderland' at ACMI
Almost since the beginning, filmmakers have been fascinated with Lewis Carroll's stories. A new exhibition will look back at that rich, weird history. Vision supplied: ACMI.
Up Next
Clip: It's Just a Choice
- Video duration
- 04:37
- Video duration
- 04:37
Clip: It's Just a Choice
Clip: It's Just a Choice
WARNING: Content may disturb. A short film about domestic violence which seeks to change the mindsets and environment that allow it to happen. Vision courtesy Films4Change
Up Next
Trailer: Tulip Fever
- Video duration
- 02:11
- Video duration
- 02:11
Trailer: Tulip Fever
Trailer: Tulip Fever
An artist falls for a young married woman while he's commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.
Up Next
Trailer: The Teacher
- Video duration
- 02:15
- Video duration
- 02:15
Trailer: The Teacher
Trailer: The Teacher
Since the arrival of the new teacher, Maria Drazdechova, to a Bratislava suburban school in the year of 1983, life has turned upside down for students and parents.
Up Next
Trailer: Goodbye Christopher Robin
- Video duration
- 01:28
- Video duration
- 01:28
Trailer: Goodbye Christopher Robin
Trailer: Goodbye Christopher Robin
A behind-the-scenes look at the life of author A.A. Milne and the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories inspired by his son C.R. Milne.
Up Next
Trailer: Better Watch Out
- Video duration
- 02:05
- Video duration
- 02:05
Trailer: Better Watch Out
Trailer: Better Watch Out
On a quiet suburban street, a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from intruders, only to discover it's far from a normal home invasion.
Trailer: Monster Trucks
Tripp, a high school senior, may have found the most unlikely friend after an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange creature with a taste and a talent for speed.
The monster here is a friendly one: an oil-guzzling creature from deep inside the Earth, unimaginatively nicknamed "Creech" by Tripp Coley (Lucas Till), the teenage hero.
With a winning grin but sharp teeth, Creech looks a bit like a tentacled dolphin, a bit like a giant sea turtle without a shell. At a glance, he doesn't seem built for speed – that is, until he crawls inside Tripp's home-made truck, taking up residence where the motor ought to be. Then, va-va-voom!
Before long the heroes – including a typically underused Jane Levy as Tripp's love interest – are being chased all over North Dakota by cops, oil drillers and others with an interest in Creech and his kind.
This lets the film have things both ways, preaching about the need to care for all species while celebrating the joys of driving fast and wreaking havoc.
Then again, a film called Monster Trucks is probably the wrong place to look for philosophical consistency. This is a fantasy for seven-year-olds, and does what is required to deliver on the promise of that, no more, no less.
The director is Chris Wedge, a computer animation specialist best-known for the Ice Age series, making his live-action debut at the age of almost 60.
His storytelling is competent, even playful in a corny way, with mock-solemn descending crane shots and an emphasis on having Creech vanish from view then reappear.
But Monster Trucks has neither the gloss nor the tongue-in-cheek sensibility of, say, the most recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
Rather, it feels like an unselfconscious throwback to a particular kind of 1980s fantasy: not a big Steven Spielberg production such as E.T. but one of the countless imitations such as Short Circuit or Batteries Not Included.
The hallmark of this kind of film is a deadpan mix of the zany and the bland. The white-bread leads seem only mildly surprised by their new pal's abilities, and even the familiar actors in supporting roles, such as Rob Lowe as a slimy villain, play it fairly straight.
That leaves Creech as easily the most memorable character, which is just as it should be. Monster Trucks does not exactly reinvent the wheel – but if you have young children who like monsters or trucks, they're pretty sure to leave satisfied.