Mr. Movie review: ‘A Monster Calls’ fun in spots but heavy for kids
Conor is an unhappy kid. Mom has cancer and is dying. Dad lives in the USA and is a disappointment. An all-business grandmother he can’t relate to is now in the picture. Also, Conor is bullied at school.
The boy is depressed and essentially alone.
Adding to his complex life, each night just after midnight at 12:07 a.m., a monster in the shape of a gnarly old tree pays him a visit. The kid doesn’t really like the monster or the three stories he makes the boy experience.
Director J.A. Bayona (2007’s creepy The Orphanage) directs, and the screenplay is written by the book’s author Patrick Ness. Newcomer Lewis MacDougall plays Conor. Felicity Jones (Inferno and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Sigourney Weaver are mom and grandmother. Liam Neeson — whose career has deteriorated to cameo roles where he’s billed as “and Liam Neeson” — voices the monster.
Part fantasy, part horror, A Monster Calls is original but not. Lots of movies have been made about kids with monsters as friends. A Monster Calls does the friendship as a love-hate relationship and wraps it in a coming-of-age theme. Each story is a lesson that relates to Conor’s life.
Ness’ book is pushed as a children’s fantasy, but the movie isn’t for the very young, or the very immature. It is packed with moral lessons that take a certain level of maturity to understand or even care about.
For adults? It’s not bad if moral lesson fantasies are your thing.
A Monster Calls
Director: J.A. Beyona
Stars: Lewis MacDougall, Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones, Sigourney Weaver, Tody Kebbell
Mr. Movie rating: 4 stars
Rated PG-13 for mature themes and some scary scenes. It’s playing at the Carmike 12, Fairchild Cinemas Pasco 12 and at Walla Walla Grand Cinemas.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen.
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it’s your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on DVD.
2 stars to 1 star: Don’t bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie review: ‘A Monster Calls’ fun in spots but heavy for kids."