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A Monster Calls

A Monster Calls (2016)

December. 23,2016
|
7.4
|
PG-13
| Fantasy Drama

A boy imagines a monster that helps him deal with his difficult life and see the world in a different way.

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Reviews

Platicsco
2016/12/23

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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Spoonatects
2016/12/24

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

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Livestonth
2016/12/25

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

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Staci Frederick
2016/12/26

Blistering performances.

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Páiric O'Corráin
2016/12/27

A Monster Calls: A boy suffers bullying at school, his mother is seriously ill, he doesn't get on with his grandmother. All of this forces him into a fantasy world where a Monster Tree (played by Liam Neeson) comes to life and tells him three tales. As well as the tree being CGI/Animatronics, the Monster's tales are played out in animation.A moving, coming of age film which also contains adult themes and no, Neeson's acting wasn't wooden. 8/10.

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Leofwine_draca
2016/12/28

A MONSTER CALLS is another film centred around the folklore figure of the 'tree man' already thoroughly explored in everything from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY to LORD OF THE RINGS and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. This time around he's a friendly creature who visits a mixed-up young boy to tell him stories in the dead of night. It turns out the kid's mother is dying of cancer, so the tree man is there to help him cope and grieve. Yeah, it's a rather cynical film that goes for the obvious approach throughout, but merely comes across as depressing. The actors fail to really get into their roles and a miscast Sigourney Weaver and her off-putting British accent don't help, although Toby Kebbell comes across well as always. The tree man scenes go overboard on the CGI and Liam Neeson merely reprises his Aslan role with a voice full of gravity. I found the whole thing hugely predictable, copying the likes of THE BFG somewhat shamelessly, and imparting a message that would take 10 minutes tops to film.

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sjalkarjadottir
2016/12/29

I liked it. Acting was well done and the story was fine, too .. but a little stereotypical. I had expected a darker tone though .. and was periodically a little bored.To me, it felt like a very, very silent, slow movie .. with very predictable storyline. I particularly liked Sigourny weavers performance.Maybe i did not quite enjoy it as much as it deserves, cause my friend was constantly complaining about not watching a "real horror" movie.The effects were .. well.. not very good though.. it felt like there were comprable cutscene effects in some video games - and the CGI did not blend in with the live action well.

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Gavin Purtell
2016/12/30

'A Monster Calls' has almost nothing to do with a monster - at it's heart, it's a straightforward story about a 12-year-old boy dealing with grief, with help from an imaginary friend. It's from Bayona, the director of 'The Impossible' (another very good survival drama), so it will be interesting to see what he does with 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'. The film centers around Conor (MacDougall), a quiet kid who loves to draw, who has a sick Mum (Jones) and a stern Grandma (Weaver). At 12:07am each night, he has a dream/nightmare where he hears a tree-monster calling him.Filmed in Manchester, there's plenty of rain and opportunities for spooky shadows and scares, but the beauty is in the benevolent twist taken on the Groot-like "monster" (Neeson), who is obviously Conor's way of dealing with his mum's cancer. The watercolour animations set to Neeson's storytelling is excellently done, with some nice morals thrown in to the "dreams" Conor has when the "monster" is present.It never gets too fantastic or unrealistic, with MacDougall successfully carrying a great load for such a young actor. He's helped expertly by Jones & Weaver, who have very significant, but relatively small, roles. It's not sad the entire film, but it really hits home for the final 15min and did not leave a dry eye in the cinema.

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