Rated PG for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor and brief language.
Directed by Gil Kenan
Starring the voices of three people you’ve never heard of, and some pretty decent Hollywood talent for the minor roles
File Monster House under “Started strong, finished weak!”
You know the kind of film… the one that is really great in the beginning. But once you find out the mystery behind it all, you’re like, “You’ve gotta be freaking kidding!”
Remember Steven King’s film It? Scary film about a clown that shows up in the gutters and drains trying to lure little children. Scary film with a great premise. But then it turns out to be some stupid spider creature that doesn’t even hold a candle to a scary clown? What a rip?
So lives Monster House. I had looked forward to seeing it with my kids. We loved the beginning… we only wish that some emergency had called us away about 45 minutes into the film so we could only assume that the rest of the film would follow suit. It didn’t.
The story is about three kids who discover that the house across the street is a living, breathing… well… for lack of a better term… monster.
Cameo voices by Kevin James and Jason Lee made the film more fun, but still couldn’t rescue it from the monster of plain ol’ bad script writing.
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
The film was actually a little frightening. My 9 year old girl was a little scared going to bed that night. But as for objectionable material, categorize it with Shrek, Shark Tale and other cartoons of late that throw in a few words that you really wouldn’t like your children repeating.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
