Drawing Review – Googly-eyed fluffballs come to bright burping life in fun imaginative yarn for kids | film

TThe Goonies meet Godzilla in this adorable, fun, imaginative and emotionally intelligent adventure for older kids. The film follows a 10-year-old girl named Amber (Bianca Belle) whose drawings of monsters magically come to life and cause all kinds of havoc. Because they’re the product of a 10-year-old mind, and drawn with felt-tip pens, the monsters are mostly a cute bunch of googly-eyed, glitter-belching fluffballs. Although be warned, one or two towards the end could scare even adult audiences.

Things start to go wrong for Amber after she is caught drawing a picture of herself stabbing a classmate – the loud and obnoxious Bowman (Calon Cox). Amber lives with her older brother Jack (Coe Lawrence) and their beautiful father (Tony Hale); Her mother has recently died, and there’s a funny scene around the dinner table where her brother Jack searches his phone to see if they’re orphans, leading to Amber coining the phrase “morphan” (as in motherless).

Near their home, the children discover a bright blue lake that can miraculously repair anything. When Amber drops her notebook into the lake, the monsters on the pages come to life. The power of the lake is never properly defined in the story, but the events are very interesting, and there is a valuable message about difficult emotions. Amber’s pictures are graphic, but they express what she feels, while her brother and father hide their sadness. Another lesson, perhaps learned from 1980s children’s films, is that adults in general, and parents in particular, have good intentions but are fundamentally ineffective.

It’s a family film with an above-average IQ – but before you book a half-term ticket, ask yourself if your little one is ready to watch a kid use a flamethrower on a scary monster.