Love and Monsters

Howdy you Tenacious Apocalypse Survivors! 

How ya doing?  Seen any good movies lately?  Well, I saw one that I thought was pretty good, and I'm gonna tell ya about it.  Partly because it was pretty good, and partly to let you know that I watch some more modern stuff, too.

In case you missed the title of this particular post, I'll tell ya that the movie is "Love and Monsters".  

In case you don't know, "Love and Monsters" is a post-apocalyptic story about a guy who has been hiding in a bunker for seven years, finds out that his girlfriend is still alive in another survivor colony and decides to take the perilous journey to go to her.

How did the world end in this one?  Well, there was a massive asteroid headed for Earth, but that's not what got us.  Several governments fired nuclear missiles at it, to break it up and destroy it.  Kinda like in "Armageddon", except we didn't have to leave the planet.  Anyway, it worked!  The asteroid was demolished into smaller pieces and missed Earth!  

However, the chemicals in the rockets wafted back down to Earth and began to mutate all the lesser, vermin-type wildlife.  Little nuisance things like mice and insects grew to gargantuan size and went on a rampage.  About 95% of humanity died fighting them back while the rest hid in bunkers and shelters.

But our story is about Joel, played by some guy named Dylan O'Brien.  I'd never heard of this guy before, apparently he's in those "Maze Runner" movies.  

On a slight sidetrack:  I only know one actor in this whole movie, and that's Michael Rooker.  I know him because he's Yondu in "Guardians of the Galaxy" (the blue guy with the arrow that he controls by whistling).  In this, he's a wandering survivor.

Back to Joel.  His hometown was "ground zero" for the mutagenic chemicals, and his parents died while trying to evacuate the town.  He only survived because he was pulled into a pickup by some passing strangers.  

Anyway, apparently he managed to fix a ham radio and they were able to contact other survivors in other colonies.  He found out that his girlfriend, Aimee, is still alive.  After years of lonely brooding, he decides to go find her because being with her "was the last time he was truly happy".  

So, he packs some supplies and heads out on an 85 mile trek that should take him at least 7 days to travel.  Along the way he meets a dog mourning for his former master, a pair of survivors making their way to a new location high in the mountains where the monsters don't seem to go, and even a robot who was saving it's last hour of power for someone to find her.

And he does run into monsters!  Giant bugs!  Giant frogs!  Carnivorous worms!  Giant snails!  This movie felt like a cool combination of Gamma World and Fallout!  

I don't really want to tell you everything, after all, I don't want to ruin it for you if you decide to watch it.  But I DO recommend that you watch it!  It was pretty cool, and it was entertaining.

I streamed it on Amazon, and its got to be on DVD by now if you want to go that route.  

I also feel obligated to point out that if you like this movie, you might like my "Mutant World" stories, so check 'em out!

Until then, I wish you all...

Good Adventuring!
Timothy A. Sayell