Can you criticize a movie for being bad when it's intended to be bad? Yes, you can. Creating a film that's so bad it's good is tougher than you might think and most attempts either fall short or go too far and are so bad they're just bad. Monster Island is one of those misfires. This MTV production has set design that looks like it was done by Sid and Marty Krofft, special effects that never decide if they're honoring or mocking Ray Harryhausen, dialog that sounds like what you'd get if you hired Karl Rove to write an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, acting that would be more in tune with one of those commercials for acne medicine, Carmen Electra proving that she genuinely can't do anything else but stand there and look hot, as well as an appearance from an apparently heavily sedated Adam West.

Josh (Daniel Letterle) is one of those high school losers who hide behind a shield of sarcastic apathy. He just broke up with his "save the Earth" girlfriend Maddie (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) when he wins a trip from MTV for him and his fellow seniors to go to a tropical island and party with Carmen Electra (Carmen Electra). Then Carmen gets kidnapped by a giant flying ant and Josh leads a rescue effort along with Maddie, her new two-faced boyfriend Chase (Chris Harrison), Josh's two best friends (Cascy Beddow and Joe MacLeod) and his younger sister (Chelen Simmons). Oh, and a wannabe VJ named Lil Mandy (Alana Husband) tags along to film the mission.

They wander around the jungle, run into some monsters, Maddie gets possessed by a tribal amulet, Adam West shows up to mouth a bunch of "zany" dialog as if his son just died, they find Carmen, some other stupid stuff happens…The End.

Monster Island is clearly meant as a parody of 1950s drive-in monster movies. The folks who made it, however, just as clearly didn't understand what they were parodying or why it was worth parodying. So they basically just re-enact all the elements of a 1950s monster flick with some overly self-aware teen snark added on. Putting aside the questionable wisdom of mocking a sub-genre of cinema for a demographic that was born decades after the last picture in that genre was made, such mockery needs to have some sort of point. These filmmakers never figured out what it was about 1950s monster movies they wanted to make fun of or why doing it would be funny. So what they ended up with was a bad knock off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys starring a bunch of generic characters from every bargain basement teen sex comedy.

The humor is Monster Island is about two steps to the side of someone sitting on a whoopee cushion. The drama is actually funnier than the comedy. The action sequences are as faltering as a donkey with a broken leg. Nobody gets naked. Nobody swears. There's virtually no gore. Carmen Electra lip syncs worse than Britney Spears after a three day crack binge.

The next time you hear somebody complain about MTV not playing more music videos, remind them that if they weren't making reality shows about New Jersey mulatto impersonators or inflatable California sex dolls that apparently came to life like Frosty the Snowman, the alternative would probably be more crap like Monster Island.

This little flick was way above average for cable-tv fare. In fact, it was quite good on its own terms, mixing a simple but entertaining teen storyline with some surprising satire of corporate t.v. practices and clever, affectionate nods to the monster movies of Bert I. Gordon and Ray Harryhausen. In terms of acting, the younger members of the cast acquit themselves well (especially Mary Elizabeth Winstead) but it's Adam West who steals the show. His take on the 'grizzled scientist' archetype is campily amusing and genuinely likable all at once - the kind of witty celebrity-cameo perf you'd expect from a latter-day John Waters film. The filmmakers also deserve a round of applause for bypassing the usual lame CGI effects in favor of genuine stop-motion animation - it seals the film's b-movie appeal. In deference to 'gceomer,' this may not be LORD OF THE RINGS but it is a thoroughly likable little genre flick that is well worth the time for those of us predisposed to such fare.

A really fun retro science fiction-adventure-monster movie with a pleasing cast, good sense of humor, fantastic traditional stop-motion animation, a remote island, a lost tribe, giant bugs, a rubber suited monster, a papier-mache volcano and Adam West as wacky scientist Dr. Harryhausen. The story moves along quickly and is told with considerable wit. There's also a nice use of obvious miniatures of the jungle, a boat and the island itself which really help convey the feeling of a 50's adventure film. Adam West gives a bravura performance in a highly amusing role. When I first heard about this film I had my doubts but we were really pleasantly surprised by the results. A classic Saturday matinee come to life. Well done to all involved!