MONSTER TRUCKS | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"MONSTER TRUCKS"
(2017) (Lucas Till, Jane Levy) (PG)

QUICK TAKE:: Fantasy/Adventure: A teen tries to keep a newly discovered species of animal safe from oil executives who want it destroyed to protect their drilling site.

PLOT:

Tripp (LUCAS TILL) is a teenager who's unhappily living in a small North Dakota town with his mom, Cindy (AMY RYAN), and her sheriff boyfriend, Rick (BARRY PEPPER). With little interest in school or a classmate, Meredith (JANE LEVY), who's obviously attracted to him, Tripp spends most of his time in a junkyard owned by Mr. Weathers (DANNY GLOVER) trying to rebuild an old truck. His life gets upended when a large, never-before-seen creature -- that has the head of a shark and something akin to a walrus body and octopus tentacles -- ends up there hungry for oil. It and two others of its kind were released from their subterranean world by the far-reaching oil drilling efforts of Terravex Energy.

That company essentially runs the town, and the big boss, Reece Tenneson (ROB LOWE), has his lead scientist, Jim Dowd (THOMAS LENNON), try to figure out what the creatures are, having captured two of them. But as oil means money, he's less interested in their nature than he is in keeping the discovery secret, knowing if word gets out, the lucrative drilling site will be shut down. Accordingly, he has his top enforcer goon, Burke (HOLT McCALLANY), out on the hunt to find the creature.

Tripp has other ideas, though, when he learns that this friendly critter -- that he's now nicknamed Creech -- loves the truck he's rebuilding and can essentially serve as its engine, what with its tentacles able to spin both axles and provide both horsepower and torque. With Meredith joining him, he then sets out to keep his new pet out of harm's way, all while Burke and his men try to find and capture the creature.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Tweens and younger teens might show some interest if the idea of a high school student and his pet monster sounds interesting.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG: For action, peril, brief scary images, and some rude humor.

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