Parents' Guide to

Monster Trucks

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 7+

Lots of action, thin story in boy-meets-creature adventure.

Movie PG 2017 122 minutes
Monster Trucks Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 9+

Based on 22 parent reviews

Evange
Evange Adult
March 4, 2022
age 12+

Super entertaining and lots of action!

Personally I loves this movie, I am an 18 year old and still enjoyed it, to be honest it was probably mostly because of Lucas Till😉 anyway, it does get a little scary, especially in the beginning, lots of characters are injured or dead do to the creatures flipping their trucks or other vehicles crashing and /or getting rammed off a cliff, you never see nor know for sure, lots of intensity, no blood nor sex, the two main characters only flirt a little and hold hands. Spoilers, The bad guy does die in a disturbing way at the end, nothing is really shown, you just hear him yelling and see him trying to get out of his truck, the main characters is shot at and chased relentlessly in a truck, anyway, overall this is a great movie and one I highly recommend!

This title has:

Great messages
Acal1
Acal1 Adult
March 22, 2019
age 8+

Exciting and funny

My 7-8 year old found the beginning a bit scary (for young kids) but we knew the monsters where friendly from the preview which helped him get through the beginning. The rest was funny and endearing. A bit of reckless destruction at parts but mostly good stuff. He thought it was 4 stars. Id go 3. I like the message of protecting rate species from human development.

This title has:

Great messages
See all 22 parent reviews

What's the Story?

MONSTER TRUCKS is set in small North Dakota town, where many families have benefited from land leases to Terravex oil. Unfortunately for Terravex CEO Reece Tenneson (Rob Lowe), one area can't be drilled because an unusual water-bound ecosystem seems to be separating potential pockets of oil. During a drilling accident, three extraordinary creatures escape. The Terravex team manages to contain two of them, but the last one slithers its way to the junkyard, where high-school senior Tripp (Lucas Till) works the night shift for Mr. Weathers (Danny Glover). While Terravex's top scientist (Thomas Lennon) studies the two captured specimens, his boss sends a secret security force to look for the missing one. Meanwhile, Tripp calls the town sheriff (Barry Pepper), who's also his mom's boyfriend, but the creature escapes by the time the cops arrive. Soon, Tripp realizes the creature, which he names "Creech," is friendly and that it consumes oil. The gas-guzzling "land squid" can even power his custom truck (hence the movie's title). With help from his biology tutor Meredith (Jane Levy), Tripp must keep the greedy oil company and its goons from secretly destroying Creech, his entire family, and their natural habitat.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (22):
Kids say (18):

Considering the rock-bottom expectations for this $125-million movie, it's actually not that bad of a story about a teen and his extraordinary, endangered bestie; but that doesn't mean it's good. Till and Levy are both in their late 20s (and look it, despite the shaggy haircut on Till and cutesy barrette on Levy) and should be beyond playing high-school characters. But at least that means they give decent performances despite paper-thin material. And the filmmakers wisely keep any romance between them to a minimum, so the movie won't alienate younger kids.

The supporting characters don't have a whole lot to do, but it is nice to see a stepdad-type character turn out to be supportive and helpful instead of antagonistic. Pepper, who's been good with a gun in his hand since Saving Private Ryan, is more than the typical country bumpkin stereotype as Sheriff Rick. And then there's veteran comedian Lennon as the curious Terravex scientist who for once doesn't want to let his boss get away with something unethical. He adds a bit of humor to the proceedings, which otherwise vary between surprisingly tense (the special ops agents can be pretty scary) or light and silly (like when Tripp and Creech are playing around or testing out how fast the Creech-powered truck will go). Ultimately, unless you have a monster-truck-obsessed child, Monster Trucks is definitely a skippable movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the messages in Monster Trucks. Do you think the environmental themes are strongest, or is it the friendship elements? How does the movie promote teamwork?

  • Who are the role models in the movie? What character strengths do they display?

  • What parts of the movie did you find scary? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

  • Who do you think the movie's target audience is? How can you tell? Compare this movie to others that deal with a kid and his extraordinary best friend. How is this one similar/different?

Movie Details

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