A newer film in this run of lockdown reviews, 'Little Monsters' (2019) is a zombie comedy that I had never heard of before stumbling upon it on NowTV. It also happens to be the third zombie comedy that I have reviewed in this little run. One of those films, 'Anna and the Apocalypse' (2017) is a fun but flawed film while 'Shaun of the Dead' (2004) is one of my favourite films of all time. 'Little Monsters' fits snuggly somewhere in between the two, The film follows Dave (Alexander England) who has moved in with his sister, Tess (Kat Stewart), and 5-year-old nephew, Felix (Diesel La Torraca), following a break up with his long term girlfriend. After meeting Felix's school teacher, Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong'o), and immediately being attracted to her he agrees to help her out on a school field trip. While on the field trip a zombie outbreak occurs leaving them trapped in a souvenir shop. It is up to both Dave and Miss Caroline to save the children while ensuring they are not traumatised by the experience.
I didn't know what to expect coming into this film but I did expect it to be half decent, mostly due to the presence of Lupita Nyong'o. I think she is a terrific actress and is often the best part of the films she is in, and that is no different in this film. It is quite a departure from the kind of performances I have seen her do elsewhere but she does a great job. I fully bought into her being a primary school teacher with her portraying this brilliantly, but she also kicks ass in the film and this is something that truly surprised me in the film. There are a couple of moments in the film where I expected Dave to be the hero, fitting into the redemption narrative that he has throughout the film, but it is Miss Caroline who takes the lead in these scenes and it was a pleasant surprise. Lupita Nyong'o may put in the best performance, but I think my favourite came from Josh Gad as Teddy McGiggle, an alcoholic children's TV show host, who becomes trapped with the group. He is a character who puts on a facade when on TV but who is a huge dickhead when the cameras are off and Josh Gad portrays both sides of his character brilliantly. He also happens to be the funniest of the characters, which I will get to a bit later. Alexander England puts in the weakest performance as Dave, but it is still a decent one. I think the issues I have with the performance come more from the issues I have with the character as when these issues dissipated I suddenly felt that the performance improved. Again, I'll get to this more later. On a technical level there is nothing to complain about as much as there is nothing to write home about. The film is well made without pushing the boat out on creativity. The zombie effects are done well. They are not spectacular but they fit the tone of the film well and do the job they are needed to do.
I mentioned earlier that I had issues with Dave's character and these issues hinder the film, especially in the opening act of the film. Dave is a character who has a lot of parallels to Jack Black's character in 'School of Rock' (2003). A failed musician and bit of a man child whose inability to grow up is causing him grief in his personal life, and the film is mostly about him finding himself and improving as a person. Now, with a narrative such as that it is okay to give your protagonist unlikeable character traits, but they also need to be endearing on some level so that we make an emotional connection and want to see them improve. Dave is not endearing in the first half of this film and I felt like he probably deserved all the shit that was being thrown at him. The actual arc of his character is done well, but it got off to a rocky start. Apart from this issue I very much enjoyed the film. Although not an exceptional piece of filmmaking there is a lot of charm here that meant I couldn't help but smile throughout most of the runtime. It is so charming in fact that I occasionally found myself thinking it was a family-friendly zombie film. This thought swiftly left my train of thought thanks to the use of the word cunt. Yeah, definitely not a family film. This film is also a comedy and so the big question is, is it funny? The answer is yes, even if the jokes are 50/50. There are several attempts at jokes that I felt just did not land, but there were equally several jokes that got audible laughs from me so it is a mixed bag. I mentioned that Josh Gad is the funniest part of the film and I haven't changed my mind 300 words or so later. When we are first introduced to him he is in full children's tv character mode and so when we do a full 180 on his character it is very funny. He is a horrible character but that what makes him so funny. He doesn't care about the wellbeing of these kids and his disdain for them is genuinely hilarious. I mean he suggests eating one of the children so you get the idea of what kind of character he is.
'Little Monsters' is a charming little zombie comedy, but I don't think there is enough here for me to revisit it anytime soon. It is a solidly made film on a technical level and the narrative is simple but effective. The performances are at the very least decent, with Lupita Nyong'o putting in a very good performance as usual. The film's biggest strength is its charm and character, and of course Josh Gad who delivers 80% of the laughs I got from the film. I would recommend it. It is a fun film that will have you smiling throughout. Just make sure you don't watch it with your kids despite how much it may seem like you could.