Monster Family (2017)

Monster Family (2017)

Despite the title, the Wishbone family are far from happy. In an attempt to reconnect as a family, Mum and Emma plan a fun night out. However, her plan backfires when an evil witch curses them, and they're all turned into Monsters. The Wishbone family is far from happy. With a struggling bookshop, an overworked husband, and two misunderstood teenagers, Emma is at her wit's end trying to be the perfect mom. After dragging her family to a costume party on Halloween night, they are cursed by an evil witch and transformed into a Vampire, a Mummy, a Werewolf, and Frankenstein's monster. Now Emma will fight to keep her Monster Family together and uncover the secret of their curse... eventually leading them to the Prince of Darkness himself, Dracula!

Rating: PG (for some rude humor and thematic elements)

Genre: Animation, Horror, Kids & Family

Directed By: Holger Tappe

Written By: Catharina Junk

In Theaters: Feb 9, 2018 Limited

On Disc/Streaming: Feb 9, 2018

Runtime: 96 minutes

Studio: Viva Pictures

An anything-goes hodgepodge in need of a smarter, tighter narrative and more deftly conceived and rendered characters. With editing, pacing and screenplay all misfiring, it gets odder and less enjoyable. There is an excellent chance that nobody will like this film, which tells, terribly, of a family turned into classic monsters -- not the children it is aimed at, nor the parents who sit through it. It was brave of the producers to hire a co-writer called Catharina Junk. Frankly, this lacklustre computer animated effort is about as original as a second-hand Halloween costume and a lot less fun. This irritating hodgepodge is completely devoid of charm.

The fine cast is not matched by the material they're given. Tonally the film is erratic and the kid-friendly sideshow of fart gags and over the top slapstick will lose parents early on. Derivative, barrel-scraping "family animation" at its worst. Good enough for plonking the kids in front of the telly while you do the ironing, but not much more. The whole thing is exhausting, with too much slapstick, too few decent laughs and a care-y share-y message of family togetherness. a clunky, ungainly and misconceived affair, neither witty nor visually imaginative enough even to begin to compare with the best Hollywood animation. With not a bone of originality on display, the plot is a sleep-inducing tangle of 'please make it stop now' incoherence, while the poor dubbing doesn't help matters.

I wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone, it s not good 2/5.