Anytime you can get a bunch of kids together for some sort of summer adventure has the possibility to deliver greatness. Throughout the years we have had a good bunch of classics, but also some duds so it does require some finesse. The latest, Monster Summer looks to plant its curse on audiences and stars Mason Thames, Lorraine Bracco, and Mel Gibson from This is the Year director David Henrie.
 

Monster Summer follows Noah and his friends who team up with a retired police detective to embark on a monstrous adventure to save their island when a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun.
 

When I saw the trailer for this film it looked like it might have something more to offer than my initial thoughts. I was also figuring that Gibson was going to be nothing but a glorified cameo and nothing more, but to my surprise not only is he all in here the film is a ton of fun. It is being sold as more of a typical kid horror film like something out of Goosebumps, but I was surprised that it leaned more int the horror and mystery than the kid side.
 

The story and structure of the film reminded me of a mash-up of The Sandlot, The Lost Boys, and The Goonies all rolled into one in the best way possible. The kids trying to solve the mystery sticks to the formula we get from these films and Gibson takes on the mysterious creepy guy they are all afraid of with something more to him. We all know where this kind of stuff goes, but it still works, and it seems that Gibson is going all in for the fun of it all.
 

The story leans into the mystery giving you varying directions to try to figure it out all while bringing in what seemed to be some fun cameos but turned into bigger roles to the story. I purposely didn’t mention any of them here just so people can