by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B Rated PG 112 min.
Set in Loch Ness, Scotland during WWII, Alex Etel portrays Angus MacMorrow, a boy who is dealing with the death of his father. To Angus, his dad was his best friend and he refuses to believe that he is not coming back from the war. Angus copes with his anxiety by setting up his own war room inside a work shed with maps and pictures of his dad. He tracks his dad’s ship’s movements and dreams of his return. The story is about how Angus is psychologically ill-equipped to deal with the crushing grief and how he suppresses it into an imaginative discovery.
While scavenging for rocks at the Loch’s shore, Angus finds a mysterious egg and takes it back to his dad’s work shed. Reality and imagination cross paths in Angus’ mind when the egg hatches and a strange amphibian creature is born. The mythical dinosaur-like creature that will one day fuel the legend of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. Nessie is so realistic, thanks to the seamless CGI, it dominates the film as the central comedic character.
Told through the eyes of Angus’ imagination, Robert Nelson Jacobs’ screenplay adapted from Dick King-Smith’s book, delightfully chronicled Angus’ bold new adventure of discovery–raising and harboring a forbidden animal that completely occupies his mind. Above all, Angus must make sure his Mom, Anne MacMorrow (Emily Watson) doesn’t find out about the creature. When Anne hires a handyman, Lewis Mowbray (Ben Chaplin), Angus finds a friend to help him hide the creature, which is growing by leaps and bounds.
One day, a British artillery detachment arrives at the MacMorrow’s estate to set up an artillery battery on a high point near the shore to defend the area against German submarines. Captain Hamilton (David Morrissey) is in charge. This puts more pressure on Angus to hide that darn creature, now as big as a Buick and still growing. The only solution is to release the now beastly creature into the Loch. But, Angus, who is the beast’s only parent, is worried he will never see his fun-loving monster again. That worry is moot when the friendly beast, now a full gown dinosaur, takes Angus on the ride of his life, crossing the Loch and under the water.
This film is somewhat predictable with a script that goes for the sentimental jugular. The story unfolds with a stellar cast and high quality production values. Of course, the monster is the real star of the film, from his funny antics as a baby to his fearsome abilities as an adult Plesiosaur. As a baby, he makes human-like sounds and is as precocious as a two year old baby. As with all pets and children, the creature gave Angus a serious responsibility to care for the animal and make sure he’s safe from the soldiers, who would have probably killed and then ate it.
The monster is endearing and actor Alex Etel as Angus portrayed a heartwarming character who captures the viewers’ imagination with his sweetness and innocence. By raising and caring about the monster, Angus matured. As with the real legend of Loch Ness, this story lets the viewer decide if the tale is fact or fable. To me, it’s real.
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