I’d kill for a date
LOVE AND MONSTERS Cert 12 ★★★★
‘‘
He’s been cowering in a bunker for seven years hiding from giant bugs
The end of the world is an unexpected hoot in an apocalyptic romp for Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien. An opening voiceover establishes the irreverent tone familiar to fans of the Zombieland movies.
“I don’t think anyone was that shocked,” says bored 23-year-old Joel (O’Brien) as he recalls news reports of a giant asteroid heading for Earth.
It wasn’t the space rock that wiped out 95 per cent of humanity, though, but the rockets sent to destroy it. Somehow, the chemical fallout mutated harmless creepy crawlies into giant predators.
So, for the past seven years, puny Joel has been cowering in an underground bunker with a muscle-bound, photogenic gang of survivors who look like they’re auditioning for a new Alien sequel.
When facing the giant bugs, Joel has a “pretty severe freezing problem”, so he has been restricted to kitchen duties and has perfected a killer recipe for minestrone soup.
But seeing his bunker mates pair off has left the lad pining for his high school girlfriend Aimee ( Jessica Henwick) who is hiding out with another community of
survivors 85 miles away. When Joel makes the rash decision to pay her a visit, his incredulous camp-mates can only muster one piece of advice: “Don’t fight, just run and hide”.
Armed with a limp crossbow and a quiver of world-weary quips, Joel embarks on his lonely quest.
On the way, he encounters a menagerie of wonderfully designed CGI monsters, befriends a loyal dog and learns valuable lessons from a grizzled hunter (Michael Rooker) and a mouthy eight-year-old (Ariana Greenblatt). Despite a slight plot, this breezy adventure proves that witty scripts and charismatic leading men can go a very long way.