Monster Summer Movie Review

Monster Summer (2024)

Rent Monster Summer on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Cornelius Uliano & Bryan Schulz
Directed by: David Henrie
Starring: Mason Thames, Lorraine Bracco, Mel Gibson, Kevin James, Patrick Renna
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
When a mysterious force begins to disrupt their big summer fun, a group of friends team up with a retired police detective to embark on an adventure to save their island.

Verdict
This feels like a kids movie in that it lacks depth, but it's so generic, taking a typical story and adding so little to it. All this does is check the boxes in a movie for this genre. One kid believes a witch is turning children into zombies and begins investigating despite no one believing him. You can guess where this will go in just the first few minutes.
Skip it.

Review
An ominous beginning portrays a kid that stole something from what seems to be a witch's house. In the next scene he's found wandering in some kind of trance.

Mason Thames, Noah Cottrell, Nora Zehetner, Nora Zehetner play Noah, Ben, Eugne, Abby

Ambitious future  reporter Noah (Mason Thames) searches for a news story. Like most movies in this genre, Noah seeks adventure in his sleepy town. The kid may have found exactly that when one of his friends has an event while swimming. The friend is left in some sort of trance, unable to provide any information as to what happened. Noah's the only one that believes something nefarious is the cause.

Noah also seems to be making friends with the town's scary old man, Gene (Mel Gibson). That's after he and friends trespass onto his property looking for clues and are scared away. Noah goes back, taking his story of witches to former cop Gene who dismisses it. When the same thing happens to another kid, Gene calls Noah, starting to believe him. Gene reveals a rather dark backstory. Other than that he's a stereotypical grouchy old man.

Noah and his friends suspect it's a witch and that a new visitor is exactly that. It turns out the kids are completely wrong, embarrassing everyone in the process. There's still some kind of evil force in the town, they just need to find it. Noah and Gene soon both make a big discovery about who's involved.

Mel Gibson, Mason Thames play Gene, Noah

In the big finale, Noah and his friends find the witch and must fight to survive. Of course Gene shows up to save them. Everyone gets closure with Noah stopping the witch, and Gene putting away a monster. There's nothing interesting about the story or characters. It's an idea, but it's not much past that.