Love And Monsters [Blu-Ray]

Director: Michael Matthews

Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker

Release Date: January 5, 2021

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel Dawson (Dylan O’Brien), along with the rest of humanity, has been living underground ever since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting over radio with his high school girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick), who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again. As Joel realizes that there’s nothing left for him underground, he decides to venture out to Aimee, despite all the dangerous monsters that stand in his way. The fun-filled and action-packed adventure also stars Dan Ewing, Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt.

Please Note: Paramount Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘Love and Monsters’ follows the journey of Joel Dawson (O’Brien) seven years after what’s been dubbed the Monsterpocalypse. After living in a colony away from the girl of his dreams for so many years, he sets out on a journey to find her after reconnecting with her on radio and discovering that she’s currently residing at another colony 80 miles away. Packed with weapons and provisions for his dangerous quest, Joel connects with a dog named Boy and the two form a fast friendship before setting out together to navigate a world filled with monstrous creatures around every turn. But if the pair is to survive the journey and all the danger along the way they’ll need to rely on each other more than they realize and hope for some luck on top of it.

Directed by Michael Matthews (Five Fingers for Marseilles) from a screenplay by Brian Duffield (Underwater) and Matthew Robinson (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) and from a story by Duffield, Matthews does a marvelous job at the helm of ‘Love and Monsters’ guiding along his sophomore outing as director with beauty, heart and style. The film also owes its share of credit to the cast which includes Dylan O’Brien (American Assassin), Jessica Henwick (Underwater), Dan Ewing (Occupation), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), Ariana Greenblatt (The One and Only Ivan) and more, the majority each offering solid overall performances in their respective roles, especially O’Brien who delivers a passionate and relatable portrayal of our lead.

‘Love and Monsters’ is a tense, touching and cleverly constructed tale of a world where everyday bugs and critters have been transformed into monstrous creatures that could squash us as simply as we could once squash them, and one young man’s brave journey through treacherous terrain to find the woman he loves who he was separated from years prior at the onset of the apocalyptic event that changed everything. It’s a beautifully made tale that does a fantastic job of balancing the action and tension with heart and hope, not to mention offering a boy and his dog tale at its core that in its own right is almost more touching than everything else. It’s carefully guided along by director Michael Matthews and a wonderful performance by lead Dylan O’Brien and two very talented (not to mention adorable) dogs only helps to fully seal the deal and make this one something truly spectacular. It’s a wonderful and unforgettable gem of a film that delivers on all fronts and won’t be quickly forgotten after the credits roll. I can’t encourage everyone strongly enough to go out of your way to give ‘Love and Monsters’ a shot. It’s easily one of the best films of 2020 and its originality paired with its heart and charm has the potential for this one to become a real cult classic that many will hopefully still be discovering and revisiting for years to come.

Overall, ‘Love and Monsters’ is nothing short of spectacular. It’s a beautiful, tense and exciting adventure that’s also one of the best films of 2020. Loaded with heart, humor and some monstrous action and further complemented by an endearing performance from lead Dylan O’Brien, it’s a true pleasure to behold from start to finish. ‘Love and Monsters’ is definitely highly recommended. It’s a beautifully crafted tale of love, danger, hope and friendship that quickly evolves into something incredibly special that should have fans of multiple genres falling in love with this phenomenal film. This one is not to be missed and should be well worth a couple hours of your time and the cost of a rental at the absolute least. Just don’t be terribly surprised if you find yourself wanting to add it to your collection shortly thereafter.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Love and Monsters’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks wonderful as a whole and offers a smooth, clean and richly detailed presentation throughout with plenty of vivid colors on display. It holds up beautifully even among the darker and fast moving sequences, never allowing anything occurring onscreen to become negatively affected, let alone rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a great high definition video presentation from Paramount that delivers splendidly from start to finish and never falters or disappoints along the way.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack is quite the treat and delivers a sharp, clean and hard hitting audio presentation from start to finish. It constantly makes great use of all seven available channels in order to send monster effects along with action and nature activity, plus a whole lot more consistently zipping throughout the various speakers, while never causing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to be distorted or rendered inaudible along the way. Overall, this is a fantastic 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that sounds spectacular throughout while constantly contributing its share of additional fun to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Love and Monsters’ includes a few fun extras that fans of the film should enjoy. Included on the release is a collection of ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the movie (running approximately 12 minutes in length altogether), in addition to a couple of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with members of the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Bottom of the Food Chain: The Cast of Love and Monsters’ (running approximately 8 minutes) and ‘It’s A Monster’s World: Creating a Post-Apocalyptic Landscape’ (approximately 7 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

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‘Love And Monsters’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from eOne Films & Paramount Home Entertainment

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