What do you do on cold afternoon in Bury St Edmunds when you’ve exhausted the English Heritage sites and the children are fed up with walking? We decided that the cinema would be a useful distraction for a couple of hours so we parked up and wandered in to see what was on offer: The Muppets Movie or A Monster in Paris. It was hardly inspiring but driven by Calvin’s desire for something with monsters in it we settled for the latter.
I’m not going to spoil the film by revealing the twists but it starts as a film about a couple of unlikely heroes delivering bags of something to a scientist who is working on some fairly strange potions in a large indoor forest. The film is slow to begin with and I have to say I was struggling to stay engaged. There is some friendly Parisian banter, a bit of wild car driving, some humourous stuff with a monkey, some romance, a bit of drama with an escaped monster and generally a strange feeling that it is going nowhere in particular.
And then…
And then everything changes. From thinking it was a children’s romantic comedy then to thinking it was a sort of mild horror it all switches to something completely different. I have to say that it was one of those moments where you are really taken aback and shake your head in wonder. Looking along the row I saw nearly everyone sit up straight and take a renewed interest in things. After this change things move along much better and it became a very engaging film.
The genre change and the surprise at the change reminded me of how often people perceive Christianity to be one thing and when they actually hear the good news properly they are often bowled over by how extraordinary it is. For me, one of the most exciting things is seeing the change in people as they start to see that what Jesus is all about is a million miles removed from how they perceive Christianity and religion in general.
I think the film is worth a watch and if you avoid reading any plot spoilers you may well enjoy it much more.
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