We are now at the time of year when Oscar contenders are starting to show their cards.

One film that is getting a surprising amount of notice in the awards race is 'A Monster Calls'. This was originally going to be released in the summer. But after the reviews it was getting in the film festivals, they pushed it back to the winter.

It is not often to see a fantasy film be involved in getting major award nominations. But director J.A Bayona seems to have created something that is winning the critics over.
Bayona has only just begun building his catalogue of directed feature films. However, he has done pretty well so far. I have yet to see 'The Orphanage', but I have heard good things, and I liked 'The Impossible' a lot more then I thought I would. With his next project being the sequel to Jurassic World, the film industry certainly has high hopes for him.

First and foremost, I liked it. However, while it aims to be emotionally powerful, I think it was trying to be bigger and more profound then it actually is. I liked the story that it was going for and the general development of it all.
The mix of CGI and live-action was really well done I thought. The construction and design of the monster character was great to see. It was like watching the Ent creatures from 'The Lord Of The Rings' all over again or Groot from Guardians Of The Galaxy. There were also some gorgeous segments of watercoloured animation imagery. They certainly reminded me of the story of the 'Deathly Hallows' segment in Harry Potter.
There is one big tear-jerker that gives the film a big emotional punch. It almost got me bawling my eyes out.

But I think the main reason not liking it as much, was that I could see where the movie was going and so I did not invest enough into the film to give a high rating. Also, there were moments that I felt the film was spoon-feeding us the emotions that we should be feeling at that point. Slight moments like that put me off.

As for the performances, Lewis MacDougall was clearly the start that carries this film. The youngster was really good as the lead character, and he certainly had a powerful screen presence that showcased his talents.
Felicity Jones did well what she had. However, I would have liked to see more moments on screen with MacDougall. Liam Neeson did some really good voice-work as the monster.
Toby Kebbell was fine. But I also felt him to be a slightly odd choice of casting for a film like this.
I was not sure what to make of Sigourney Weaver's character. I'm not sure if she was supposed to be British as they accent felt muddled to me.

Don't forget, that I did like this. I wouldn't let my sniffy comments put you off seeing this. I would still highly recommend seeing this on the big screen. It is worth your money and I can definitely see it winning a lot of fans and become a big tear-jerker with many demographics. It is always nice to see a fantasy film work really well. If you liked films like Pan's Labyrinth, Bridge To Terabithia or either version of The BFG, then I think you will enjoy this as well.

One thing I am torn on, is whether this should be suitable for kids. The story is coming from a child's point of view and has a lot of fantasy elements that would usually draw them in. But a lot of the content is heavy and emotional, and I think that might put off or scare the younger ones. I think mature kids would be more ideal on not only coping with this movie, but enjoying it.

Rating: 7/10