An asteroid is coming to the earth with a thunderous momentum, and the world is in danger...
Starting from "The End of the World" and "The Great Collision of Heaven and Earth" twenty years ago, similar plots and pictures, you have seen it strangely. But the next story, the story of this piece is a little different.
Although the slightly nonsensical title with the poster full of cottage atmosphere (I really don't know how it was designed) gives people an ominous premonition, the evaluation of "Love and Monsters" is actually quite good, IMDB and Douban are more than 7 points - such results are not low in fantasy adventure films. So, what kind of story does it tell?
Eschatological
The story takes place in the not-too-distant future. In the face of the planet that is heading straight ahead, the earthlings who think they can turn things around by relying on high technology are firing a rocket at it.
As a result, stupid human beings who are clever and clever encounter the relentless "Murphy's Law": asteroids are blown to pieces, but the compounds produced by the explosions are scattered all over the world. Because of the radiation, all cold-blooded animals mutated.
"Mutation" refers to: small strong dinosaurs, pets to eat people - whether it is cockroaches, snails, centipedes, or crabs, these ugly little guys have become Godzilla-like behemoths, even with shotguns and tanks may not be able to deal with.
Of course, whether it is "Godzilla" or "Monster of the Han River", there are many mutated animals, but it is often just a single monster, and there are few movies like "Resident Evil" that cause all creatures to mutate on a large scale - only this time it is no longer humans becoming zombies, but animals becoming giant beasts.
The film opens with a focus on environmental issues and animal protectionism. Like the line in the film: "It's never a coincidence that you were kicked off the top of the food chain." ”
As a standard Hollywood industrial genre film, this opening is not lacking in novelty: first of all, the use of hand-drawn animation to quickly explain the background, which not only saves costs, but also echoes the plot of the protagonist's production of monster science picture books; at the same time, the setting of the core plot is not conventional - we have seen too many depictions of the end times, especially in the past 2020, there are two films in South Korea alone: "Busan Row 2", which is regarded as a dog-tailed sable, and Liu Yaren's overturned work "Alive".
The drama of the zombie siege has caused too many viewers to have aesthetic fatigue, and in today's new crown raging, it is somewhat inappropriate to regain the old terrier of "alien invasion". As a newcomer director, Michael Matthews has taken a different approach to interpreting his vision of the "end of the world" from the perspective of human self-inflicted animal mutations that you and I are familiar with, which is not only refreshing, but also has considerable realistic reference: as we all know, the biggest "monster" in the world today, which has caused 200 million infections and more than 4 million deaths, has also undergone several rounds of mutations. And many people around the world, like the survivors in the film, have experienced a long isolation from the external environment. The difference may simply be that the protagonist hides underground while we stay at home.
As a result, joel, the male protagonist of "home" and "mourning", appeared on the scene.
Joel
Joel, a man who hid in an underground bunker for seven years. From the age of 17 to 24, the best years of his life, because of the fear of the monster-infested earthly world, he could only play the role of the "logistics minister" in the bunker: there was nothing to milk the cows, cook for the survivors, and live a boring life.
Joel is still the only "single dog" in the bunker, watching the friends around him go in and out of pairs one by one, and Joel feels even more lonely.
He missed his ex-girlfriend Amy, whom he hadn't seen in seven years and was in another shelter 85 miles away.
Note: It's an ex-girlfriend.
Joel relies only on intermittent radios, wishful thinking and awkward conversation with Amy, to comfort his pain of lovesickness: Amy is the white moonlight that lingers in Joel's heart, and the only part of the bleak and hopeless future he is willing to take the initiative to fight for.
But compared with the fantasy of concubines, the cold reality is that the only person who can communicate with Joel face to face is the robot that has long been out of power - the director presents this contrast through the strong contrast of cold and warm tones, and for a commercial film, it is still intentional.
Unlike Amy, who is alone and takes care of a large group of people. Joel is not very popular with the people in the bunker, except for his good dishes- because as a timid and cowardly "scum of war", Joel is really good at cooking: when the monster invades, the first thing that comes to mind is to let him stay in the kitchen.
Because if Joel doesn't do this and insists on making a splash, he will become the object of everyone's full rescue in the face of the monster.
So, under the disguised stimulation of the monster, Joel, who is not willing to be a "pig teammate" and a "family cook" forever, plans to make a desperate bet: he will go out of the ground and look for Amy, whom he has not seen for seven years!
Joel's vow stunned his teammates, even for the powerful ordinary people: it was almost an "impossible task" to spend seven days crossing the monster-infested land, not to mention the weak Joel, after all, he had just explained with his own practical actions that this was definitely a suicide adventure.
But as Joel said: Hiding forever is not the way to go, and if you just sit back and wait for the moment, the time will never come — because the monster will never disappear. Whether to continue to immerse yourself in the illusion of unrequited love like a coward, or to fight for a glimmer of life for that glimmer of hope – Joel chose the latter.
Some people may not be able to stand the low childishness of the plot and the chicken soup of the lines, but "Love and Monsters" is originally a fantasy film of teenagers: youth is a walk-and-go, reckless adventure and trial, the film focuses on Joel's process from naivety to maturity, relying on unexpected monsters and friends, and the arc of the characters is not badly completed.
monster
During the seven-day "True Love Adventure", Joel experienced two aspects of growth. The first is skill: from the "five scum of the war" all the way to fight monsters and upgrades, combat effectiveness and willpower soared. For example, when Joel first encounters a toad with small tentacles, he is still panicked at the first time and almost dies in place.
At the moment of a thousand guns, a dog god soldier descended from the sky and staged a drama of "single dog saving single dog" - look, the hero is not refined in a day, and at the beginning he also needs the salvation of "loyal dog Hachigong".
Joel then stumbled into a cave inhabited by sandworms, but was rescued by passing hunters and little girls.
The help of nobles is an indispensable part of the hero's growth - although this is very routine, but thanks to the smooth narrative rhythm of the film, the creation of a thrilling atmosphere and the various monster shapes that originate from the real and so "feel intimate", the audience naturally has no time to worry so much.
On the way with three people and a dog, the hunter and the little girl constantly point out joel: "Love Fighter" is not so good, first you have to learn to fight.
With the help of mentors and friends, Joel's technique of firing crossbows improved by leaps and bounds, and he also learned to use grenades. The hunter told him that when colliding head-on with a monster and avoiding it, try to observe its eyes - like a huge snail, although it is vicious, but it is actually "ugly and gentle" and does not actively attack humans.
Joel's second growth also comes from the heart, and after bidding farewell to the hunter duo, he soon encounters a huge test: when the dog that saved him was surrounded by centipedes, Joel instantly remembered the scene when he was 17 years old and witnessed his parents being killed by monsters and he was powerless.
Seven years later, Joel, still full of fear of monsters, finally plucked up the courage to use a grenade to defeat the monster and save the dog. He can face the demons of the past.
Through the way of passing through a brave heart, the reason why this old-fashioned storyline still has a good sense of substitution is due to the director's grasp of the mood of the times: affected by the new crown epidemic, in today's "fooling learning" has become a common practice, many young people are not like Joel, showing more and more "home" and more and more "lost" trend. Just like the people in the bunker, because of their fear and disgust for the outside world, they are unwilling to look at it and even more unwilling to admit it, so they close themselves off and settle for the status quo while being cynical - if the attempt is doomed to failure, why bother?
But Joel bravely walked away from his own safe zone and always held on to unrealistic little ideals. The director uses Joel's adventure to try to convey this message to the audience: even if the end of the world really comes, the little "little luck" that belongs to everyone is still worth pursuing.
The male protagonist of the film, Dylan O'Brien, has starred in "Moving Labyrinth" and the American drama "Little Wolf", "Love and Monsters" continues his consistent "youth growth system" character style. After encountering five mutant monsters and parting ways with friends, Joel grows up, and he finally arrives at Amy's base, about to meet twilight's lover.
Amy
When Joel finally finds Amy, the scene of "lovers eventually becoming dependents" does not appear, and Amy is very touched by Joel's brave and romantic but completely rash behavior - but still staged a large face-punching scene of "ten moves to refuse".
Unlike Joel, who has been hiding underground, in the past seven years, many things have happened to Amy's body: she has lost relatives, friends and a beloved boyfriend, and she has to take care of the elderly in the shelter. Now Amy will follow the "captain" and take the old people to a safe sea life. At this time, in the face of Joel's sudden courtship, Amy's heart is difficult to accept - the beauty has not become the "reward" of the hero who has gone through the disaster, which also caters to the current emphasis on independent feminism. No way, family fun, what fashionable topics have to be stuffed.
When joeldon was stunned, he woke up: all he had done by the blood was just a one-sided "self-touching" and "self-made sentimentality". Feelings are mutual: although Joel proved his courage to Amy, it is not the same as winning the heart of the beauty.
People, even in the case of the end of the world, should be soberly aware that not everyone revolves around themselves: not that when you run away recklessly and decisively, people should sincerely bless and pray silently for you; nor every time there are dogs or hunters who fall from the sky to help you... Joel, who recognizes reality, finally ushers in the final growth. Of course, the director finally gave love a chance: after all, it is for young people to see.
It turned out that the "captain" who had promised to lead everyone to live at sea was a professional swindler who robbed supplies, who wanted to steal everything from the shelter and attacked the base people by relying on a "big guy" he had captured.
The crab monster was originally docile, but because it was tied with chains, the captain stimulated it with continuous electric shocks.
With his life on the line, Joel remembered the hunter's advice: When in danger, try to see the monster's eyes.
Joel discovers that the ugly-looking crab monster has weary eyes that have been subjected to electric shocks for a long time. Hunter once told Joel, "Your intuition will save your life." But apparent wishful thinking that Amy would fall in love with herself was a "false intuition", so what about this time?
The free choice is once again in Joel's hands, and he must make a life-threatening choice as soon as possible, and this choice also determines his and Amy's future.
freely
In addition to youth and growth, another major theme of the film is free will: everyone has their own shackles — some are self-seeking, just like Joel in the bunker; some are forced, such as crab monsters. As one audience member commented: "This film tells us not to cling to our own small circle, but to dare to enter that cruel and vast world." ”
In general, as a monster-fighting youth film, "Love and Monsters" has obvious shortcomings, as mentioned earlier, it has a variety of "déjà vu" bridge sections: the setting of people and dogs depending on each other is reminiscent of Will Smith's "I Am Legend"; whether it is a hunter, a little girl, a face-faceted "captain" or a robot that still has electricity in the occasional encounter - it is a tool man.
On the other hand, there are also some loopholes in the setting of the cold-blooded animal mutation, which previously said that the Earth lost 95% of its population, but from the film, we see that the confrontation between the male protagonist and the monster who is not strong is not fierce, which is mainly caused by the director's adolescent theme of "love and growth" - the seemingly difficult task is not completely terrifying and incompetent, as long as the method is right, the difficulties are easy to overcome.
In essence, "Love and Monsters" belongs to a positive and romantic wasteland fairy tale, a small fresh film wrapped in the cloak of apocalyptic survival, which is not the same as the similar themes that render the atmosphere of bitterness and hatred and show the dark humanity of sinking and twisting.
You can think of it as childish, but it is precisely such a simple and pure fairy tale that gives the audience an unexpected touch. Perhaps today, 2020, we need such a movie to tell us a simple truth: no matter how difficult and difficult the days ahead are, we still have the opportunity to say goodbye to the narrow self and win back to the new world.