Monster Trucks is a 2016 American 3D live-action/computer-animated action comedy monster movie produced by Paramount Animation and Disruption Entertainment. It was directed by Chris Wedge and written by Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Derek Connolly and Matthew Robinson.
The film stars Lucas Till, Jane Levy (Office Uprising; Don’t Breathe; Evil Dead), Amy Ryan, Rob Lowe, Danny Glover, Barry Pepper, and Holt McCallany.
The film cost $125 million and its release has been rescheduled several times. It was finally released on January 13, 2017.
Plot:
Looking for any way to get away from the life and town he was born into, Tripp (Lucas Till), a high school senior, builds a Monster Truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars.
After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town and a most unlikely friend…
Reviews:
“When Monster Trucks finally unleashes its crash-bang-boom chase of a grand finale that somehow seems both overly violent and yet benign, it’s a relief that it isn’t silly or stupid. As for the good-looking Till, he fulfills his function as a throwback to a Kevin Bacon-Patrick Swayze hero type. Wedge is also fond of sight gags, such as the microwave door that pops open at an inopportune time.” Susan Wloszczyna, RogerEbert.com
“ …Monster Trucks, in all its stupid, misguided, laughable anti-glory, is difficult to hate. Its stupidity is, at times, vaguely likable, and if not redeemed by strong craft, not harmed by technical deficiencies. The cinematography, by Don Burgess (of Spider-Man, The Muppets, and several Robert Zemeckis movies), is better-looking than it needs to be, and director Chris Wedge maintains an animator’s warmth and affection for his subjects…” Jesse Hassenger, A.V. Club
“Objectively ridiculous but mostly fun, this is better than you could have predicted given the title but squarely aimed at a young and undiscerning audience.” Helen O’hara, Empire
“Creech — that’s what Tripp names his toothy pet blob — precariously straddles the line between cute and scary. His smile is endearing; his tentacles less so. Little kids will likely cut straight from terror to disinterest, bypassing the cuddly middle stage where movies like this make their magic happen. They’ll also miss out on the part where Tripp and Creech form a meaningful bond, because that seems to have been left on the cutting room floor.” David Ehrlich, IndieWire
