Monster Summer

7/10

In Monster Summer, kids on a small island town are being attacked and turned into shells of themselves by a mysterious being. Young Noah (played by The Black Phone's Mason Thames) teams up with grizzled, retired cop Gene (played by Mel Gibson) to track the monster down.

This is one of those movies like Monster Squad (or the 1999 TV movie the Darklings; highly underrated), it's kind of a kids film, but the content is edgier than expected. The movie earns its PG-13 rating.  A lot of this feels like traditional children's fare and there's no explicit violence, but the threat is dark and dangerous and the finale is surprisingly tense.  (It's kinda like that Nancy Drew movie with Millie Bobby Brown where people were surprised with how close the villains were to messing Nancy up.) The biggest "Wha...?" about this that there are straight up references to child predators/abductors and the characters compares the antagonist to them. They never specify what child abductors do, but it's still shocking coming from a movie with more basic children's leads and shenanigans.

Admittedly, the mix of light and dark and this sort of retro old-school darker 80's kids movie feel works in Monster Summer's favor. It is a unique blend that made me nostalgic for the yesteryear of children's movies. Can't say the movie is perfect. You're just thrown into the plot and the characters. I wished Noah and friends were introduced more naturally (the movie doesn't mention that Noah has a little sister until like a half hour after you meet him and his mom; she's just there all of a suddenn), seeing them hanging out and living their lives more before the poop hits the fan. 

The look of the movie also goes for that old school 80's and 90's feel. This is the second film from Wizards of Waverly Place lead David Henrie, and for a newbie director working with a small budget, he does fairly well for himself. He uses too many closeups, but he's got some solid stuff going on too like some nice panning shots of the island and he manages to make the villain's car intimidating as of itself. Speaking of the island, they picked a pretty photogenic place to film.

A lot of the casting is just alright, but the few known actors they got for do this do lighten up the proceedings. Gibson gives the best performances and is probably the most interesting character in this. Also, the characters of Gene and Noah just work really well off of each other. Credit should also be given to King of Queens' Kevin James, who seems to be in this just to show everyone that he does a really good southern accent. (It's weird. Between this and Becky, it seems that lower budget, lower profile films are the ones that really managed to let James shine as an actor).

Recommended. Admittedly, Monster Summer feels a bit confused as to who its demographic is, but it makes for a decent watch and its divergence from the norm keeps things fresh. (Also, watch The Darklings if you can find it. It's a kids' version of Rear Window.)