Runtime: 1hr 48min
Director: J.A. Bayona
Release Date: January 1st, 2017
Rating: 12A (UK), PG-13 (US)
Originally the brainchild of Siobhan Dowd, and beautifully finished by Patrick Ness, A Monster Calls' on-screen adaptation hits all the right notes.
When it comes to writing a children's book about dark themes such as a bullied 13-year old's attempts to deal with an overbearing grandmother, absent father, and his mother's battle with cancer, Patrick Ness must have had his work cut out when trying to set a suitable tone. When this is then transferred to a movie adaptation, with so many factors to consider like the score, animation and dialogue - you have an incredibly difficult task from the start in moulding to your target audience and remaining consistent without viewing as too dark or too edgy.
The solution that A Monster Calls attempts is the best of both worlds; maintaining a touching tale of loss and hope for the future, yet sliding in themes that children will be able to digest - though sometimes panning out as cliché.
The story focuses on schoolboy Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) and his brief relationship with an imaginary monster; whose purpose it is to help Conor learn to deal with the issues he faces by telling him three tales - provided that Conor tell the monster a tale of truth in return. The Monster (voiced by Liam Neeson), originating from a yew tree near Conor's home during the opening act, is, at first glance, reminiscent of Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy; though with far more vocabulary and an even shorter fuse.
From an aesthetic standpoint, the animation of The Monster is indeed a spectacle - not to mention a certain scene which is featured in the trailer of the film with a collapsing graveyard, where the CGI is top notch again. Naturally it is not a huge sci-fi blockbuster-level phenomenon, as the film is clearly created with a modest budget, but at the same time, A Monster Calls manages to supply the viewer with enough to please the eyes. During the times the Monster is telling his tales, 2D animation illustrates the story as it is told; the animation is a good break from the main story and I found myself always looking forward to his next - even though the third was incredibly short and fit in to the main story rather than having its own sequence, to my disappointment.
As far as sound design and score goes, there isn't too much to note other than one dramatic moment where all sound stops completely which was pulled off perfectly; the soundtrack wasn't particularly memorable at all on its own, but it did work well tied into the film, so standard enough.
The performances of the main cast are more than worth a mention, particularly considering what was managed with quite a limited number of performers. Lewis MacDougall certainly suited the role of Conor very well, a commending performance from a young actor with a good knowledge of his field. While I can't say the performance was quite exceptional, MacDougall did make Conor relatable in how he responded to different situations throughout the film, an example being how frustrated he gets when The Monster tells seemingly irrelevant tales to Conor's situation. Liam Neeson was a perfect choice for The Monster, who projected and dragged out his words so that he sounded how we'd imagine a gigantic tree-monster to sound, to the point that there were moments The Monster didn't even sound like Neeson at all; an incredibly immersive presentation.
Furthermore, acting from Felicity Jones and Sigourney Weaver were near-perfect - Jones (Conor's mother) portrayed a very realistic mother/son bond; with Weaver playing the grandmother of Conor (an excellent casting choice), superbly displaying a particularly powerful moment during the film when she loses one of her prized possessions.
The lapses in immersion and writing quality came in only two forms - one with the cliché bullies that torment Conor at school:- there are three of them, they have a 'leader bully' and that specific bully eventually gets a form of comeuppance- it sounds even less original when I describe it.
These bullies have no real motivation to consistently distress Conor whatsoever, and whilst the revealed reason Conor puts up with their teasing is incredibly moving, the actual point of the bullies simply felt like a plot mechanic, rather than fully fleshed out characters making a meaningful appearance. The other issue I would raise is that Conor is essentially correct about The Monster's stories, that they are completely irrelevant to the main story in this film; I found myself waiting for the moment that The Monster would explain how all his tales tied into the problems Conor was facing - however that moment never really came.
Overall, A Monster Calls is a great movie, and one I would certainly recommend - but do expect to be leaving the film in a far worse mood than you walked in with; it deals with some depressing themes and children with a firm understanding of the plot will likely be in tears.
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