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Parents' Guide to

Monster Zone

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Some scares, bullying in animated comedy-adventure.

Movie PG 2020 80 minutes
Monster Zone Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Li939
Li939 Parent of 7-year-old
March 27, 2022
age 8+

Kids find Monsters through a portal and use teamwork to save the day.

Was kind of funny, good not too scary monster movie. My son got a little scared at the end when he thought they may get stuck in the monster dimension which is why I rated it 8+. There was some mild bullying but we have already talked a lot about that and most kids movies have much worse examples of bullying. There was an overall good message of teamwork. Moth man helps them succeed and they work together even though…he’s mothman. The very smart boy is too smart for his regular school, but then struggles when he is the least smart kid at his new school. This gave good perspective as well.
Tcant
Tcant Adult
February 18, 2021
age 13+

Lot of perverted wording

There are a ton of perverted wordings and pronunciations in this movie. Would not recommend.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In MONSTER ZONE, Danny Dawkins (voiced by Jamie Bell) is a young science whiz who's having a tough time in his school. As a science whiz, he's the target of bullying, and the teacher in charge of the science fair -- the mother of one of the kids who bully him -- is bored by Danny's science project involving nanotechnology. Fortunately for Danny, he's rescued by Principal Evans, the principal of the elite Cranston Genius School in England. Learning of Danny's science aptitude, she offers him free tuition to attend Cranston, take advanced science classes, and be classmates with other science prodigies. This is all a dream come true for Danny, until he arrives and soon arouses the scorn and contempt of the pompous Professor Stern, and provokes the anger of Liz (Ruby Rose), his roommate who actually had wanted to be lab partners with Danny, but he refused, saying that he always goes it alone. Soon, Danny is in danger of failing Professor Stern's class and getting kicked out of Cranston, so with Liz's help, they try to fix the school's atomic particle generator, hoping that this will give Danny the high grades and respect he's trying to earn. While they do get the reactor started, they open up a portal to a land populated with an army of drooling and ugly monsters. They also inadvertently rescue the chivalrous Mothman, who was once a human assistant to Professor Stern but is now a light-loving moth fueled by hot sauce. As the monsters enter the portal and begin to terrorize Cranston, Danny, Liz, and Mothman must find a way to stop the monsters, save their school, and rescue the planet.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (1 ):

This animated movie manages to be just OK. It's a 3D-animated feature centered on Danny, a young science prodigy given the chance to attend a prestigious science academy in England, and the monsters he unleashes with the help of his roommate Liz after they fix an atomic particle reactor and open up a portal through which the monsters can enter our world and wreak havoc. There's a reliance on gross-out humor involving bodily fluids, and in the cruelty of bullies, either as kids or as authority figures. The humor throughout isn't memorable, but it's mildly amusing at times.

The animation and voice-overs are also fine, if not special. There's a positive message involving teamwork that's likely to get lost in the images of tentacled monsters throwing characters around, or slimy monsters drooling from their razor-sharp fangs, or humans captured by plants until their eyes attain a tell-tale zombie glow. The story does remain consistent, though -- unlike in the countless Pixar rip-offs released worldwide in the CGI universe -- and it's easy enough to follow. But there's nothing particularly remarkable about Monster Zone. It's neither good nor bad, and most likely to inspire little more than a shrug.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Monster Zone. While there was plenty of unrealistic animated violence involving the monsters, how was violence like bullying portrayed in the movie?

  • How were adults represented here? Why do so many animated movies have incompetent or mean grown-ups?

  • Does the movie's message about teamwork break through to viewers, or does it get lost in the silly story and violence?

  • Were there any stereotypes in the movie? If so, which ones? Why are stereotypes harmful?

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