There are so many family films released all the time and the majority of them look horrible. When the trailers for Monster Trucks debuted it had a strange and unique premise, but looked like every other bad family film that has come along. Upon further inspection it had a good cast including Lucas Till, Thomas Lennon, Barry Pepper, Rob Lowe, and Danny Glover with Ice Age and Epic director Chris Wedge in the director’s chair, but could it offer up something worth driving to or will it run out of gas way to quick?

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Monster Trucks follows Tripp, a high school senior looking for any way to get away from the life and town he was born into who builds a Monster Truck from bits and pieces of scrapped cars. After an accident at a nearby oil-drilling site displaces a strange and subterranean creature with a taste and a talent for speed, Tripp may have just found the key to getting out of town and a most unlikely friend. I went into this film with little expectations and expected to struggle to get through it so imagine my surprise to find that this film was a lot of fun. The story isn’t anything we haven’t seen before that follows an identical format to films like E.T. showcasing the troubled teen, the misplaced alien creature and a fight to get them home. That is essentially the story here, but it is the look of the creatures and the fun ways they use them that makes it something fresh and fun.

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The creature design and effects are well done and memorable. These creatures are more than just octopus type creatures, they show emotion and are pretty damn cute. The effects team did a great job making them personal and quirky with puppy like qualities that will make you smile. The cast all do a fine job with some of them kind of phoning it in and the biggest issue is believing that Lucas Till is a high school kid. Get past that and the silliness of the whole story and you still have a fun film for the whole family.

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This is a film that will no doubt get trashed by most, but I am not afraid to say I had fun with it and enjoyed the over the top fun action of it all. In addition to the film this release also includes numerous bonus features including a gag reel, deleted scenes, and featurettes that take you further behind the making of this silly family creature feature. Grab your copy of Monster Trucks available now on Digital HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand now from Paramount Home Entertainment.