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A Monster Calls Review

Extraordinary

A difficult movie to market, this isn't actually the BFG-style fantasy adventure it looks like. Instead, it's a darkly emotional journey taken by a young boy who is grappling with huge issues he doesn't quite understand. In other words, it's a film for adults that centres on a child. It's also one of the most moving films in recent memory, with a powerful cast and a remarkably resonant sense of authenticity even in its big effects-based sequences.

In northern England, 12-year-old Conor (newcomer Lewis MacDougall) is running his home while his mother (Felicity Jones) undergoes treatment for cancer. He's rather annoyed that his grandmother (Sigourney Weaver) keeps butting in to take over, and also that his father (Toby Kebbell) lives in America and can only drop in for short visits. Overwhelmed by all of this, Conor imagines the gigantic yew tree in a nearby churchyard coming to life and visiting him at night. This monster (voiced by Liam Neeson) spins a series of fables about princes and dragons, exploring complex themes Conor can't quite grasp because they don't have the simple morality of obvious heroes and villains. And now the monster tells Conor that he has to recount the final story himself, and that it has to be the truth.

Yes, this film is exploring the wrenching nature of mortality and grief, and how it feels to discover for the first time what it means to each of us personally. Thankfully, writer Patrick Ness (adapting his own novel) and director J.A. Bayona (The Impossible) are clever enough to make a film that will touch grown-ups and children in very different ways. The basic story works as an adventure odyssey with strong dramatic kicks. And while youngsters are caught up in the rich depth of ideas that are momentous but just out of reach, the audience members with experience in this area will find some scenes almost overwhelmingly emotional.

Continue reading: A Monster Calls Review

Lewis MacDougall poses alone and with his co-star Sigourney Weaver on the red carpet for the BFI London Film Festival premiere of A Monster Calls held at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom - Thursday 6th October 2016

Lewis Macdougall and Bfi London Film Festival
Lewis Macdougall and Bfi London Film Festival
Lewis Macdougall and Bfi London Film Festival
Lewis Macdougall and Sigourney Weaver
Lewis Macdougall and Sigourney Weaver
Lewis Macdougall and Sigourney Weaver

Lewis MacDougall on the red carpet for the BFI London Film Festival premiere of A Monster Calls held at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London, United Kingdom - Thursday 6th October 2016

Lewis Macdougall
Lewis Macdougall
Lewis Macdougall
Lewis Macdougall

A Monster Calls Trailer


Conor's life has never been easy, his mother is loving but any other family members are distant from the young boy. He's bullied at school and is increasingly turning into a loner. One night Conor goes to sleep but it awakened by a noise at the window.

What is revealed to Conor is a monster who starts talking with the boy. He says he'll tell the boy a series of stories in return for the boy eventually telling his own. As nights pass, the monster and the boy become closer friends but as the monster begins to get Conor into trouble, he must face up to a few issues in his life that he's been avoiding.

A Monster Calls is an adaptation of the Patrick Ness book of the same name. The book was originally published in 2011 but had its roots actually came from famed children's author Siobhan Dowd who wrote Bog Child. Dowd began work on the A Monster Calls before her death but unfortunately ran out of time, at which point Ness picked the novel up.
A Monster Calls stars Liam Neeson, Lewis MacDougall, Felicity Jones & Sigourney Weaver.

Pan Review

Good

After several high-profile grown-up movies (from Atonement to Anna Karenina), director Joe Wright aims this Peter Pan origin story squarely at children. So while it's far too manic and broad for adults, this adventure will be the most exciting movie any 8-year-old has seen in years. It's colourful and fantastical, and it thankfully doesn't indulge in reworking the beloved J.M. Barrie stories. Instead, it imagines an action-packed prequel universe.

As German bombs fall on London during the Blitz, young Peter (Levi Miller) is up to all kinds of mischief in the grim orphanage overseen by Mother Barnabas (Kathy Burke), who sells bad boys to airborne pirates. Sure enough, one night Peter is taken, sailing into the sky to Neverland, where he is sent to work in the mines for the swaggering, heartless Captain Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). In the mines Peter is befriended by the adventurer Hook (Garrett Hedlund), and when Peter discovers that he can fly they make their escape. Blackbeard chases them out into the woods, where they take refuge with Princess Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara) and her tribe, which is convinced that Peter is the child of a prophecy that will lead the fairy kingdom to freedom. But just when Peter learns who his parents really were, Blackbeard catches up with them.

This is an old-school kids' movie, packed with larger-than-life characters and outrageously imaginative action sequences that make the most of the 3D cinematography. Yes, there's so much digital trickery going on that the movie is essentially a cartoon, but it's so vividly explosive that it's a lot of fun to watch. And many of the big set-pieces are genuinely thrilling. There's also quite a lot of fun to be had in the way the story twists the familiar characters around. Obviously, Hook couldn't have always been a bad guy; here he's one of the heroes, and he still has both hands, which hints that further prequel adventures may be on the cards.

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Pan - International Trailer


Peter was but a small boy when he was left at an orphanage by his mother, with no belongings other than a small metal pan around his neck. For some years, he grew up with no knowledge of why he his mother left him, but things become clear when he discovers the mystical world of Neverland. 'Pan' takes us back to the very beginning of Peter Pan's story, from his unlikely friendship with James Hook to when Blackbeard was his arch nemesis, fighting in a land above the clouds, where ships sail the air and giant crocodiles lurk beneath the mermaids' lagoon. Soon Peter learns that he was prophecised to return to the land and defeat Blackbeard, with his ability to fly and his unwavering bravery being his only tools. This is a boy who never wants to grow up, but he's about to realise that sometimes maturity and responsibility falls on you without choice.

Continue: Pan - International Trailer

Pan Trailer


Peter was sent to an orphanage as a young boy with nothing but a small metal pan pendant left to him by his mother, who predicted great things for her son. Indeed, he goes on to experience the most exciting childhood anyone could dream to have, flying around on airborne ships from the mystical world of Neverland. And while it may be an enjoyable time, there are still great dangers that lie before him; the most feared pirate in all the land, Blackbeard, is out to bring the land under his tyrannous rule and Peter finds himself a target. Meanwhile, he meets James Hook, a fellow traveller who becomes his friend and protector, and it isn't long before he then bumps into a vibrant tribe led by the formidable Tiger Lily, who reveals to him that his arrival marks the end of the pirates' terror. But Peter is just a boy, and however brave he might be, does he really stand a chance against these merciless villains?

Continue: Pan Trailer

Pan - Teaser Trailer


Left behind by his mother at an orphanage, one young rebellious boy always dreamed of finding his mother out there somewhere. That boy was Peter (Levi Miller) and when he is suddenly kidnapped by a flying pirate ship, Pan is whisked off to Never Land by the villainous Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman). There, he strikes up an easy alliance with a young James Hook (Garrett Hedlund) while trapped in a mining colony, and the two make plans to escape. In a land of Pirates, Red Indians and Fairies, and all that Never Land lacks is the boy who holds the magical Pan charm.  

Continue: Pan - Teaser Trailer

Lewis Macdougall

Lewis Macdougall Quick Links

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Lewis MacDougall

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Lewis MacDougall Movies

A Monster Calls Movie Review

A Monster Calls Movie Review

A difficult movie to market, this isn't actually the BFG-style fantasy adventure it looks like....

A Monster Calls Trailer

A Monster Calls Trailer

Conor's life has never been easy, his mother is loving but any other family members...

Pan Movie Review

Pan Movie Review

After several high-profile grown-up movies (from Atonement to Anna Karenina), director Joe Wright aims this...

Pan - International Trailer

Pan - International Trailer

Peter was but a small boy when he was left at an orphanage by his...

Pan Trailer

Pan Trailer

Peter was sent to an orphanage as a young boy with nothing but a small...

Pan - Teaser Trailer

Pan - Teaser Trailer

Left behind by his mother at an orphanage, one young rebellious boy always dreamed of...

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