Review of Colossal (2017) by Reuben M — 05 Nov 2018

This seems to be a good time for movies with misleading trailers. Just as IT COMES AT NIGHT is presented as a horror film (it's not, but because people expected that they hated the film), COLOSSAL bills itself as a comedy. I found parts of it to be darkly hilarious, but it is not a comedy. Again, I see reviews blasting the film for not being what the viewer was led to expect. (I could now insert a full lecture on how the public only seems to like movies that deliver precisely on the expectations they have for them...hence, our sequel happy society.).

This movie really can't be categorized. A troubled Anne Hathaway returns to her hometown and sparks up a relationship with Jason Sudeikis, someone she knew from her younger days. Much of the film details their growing relationship...one that is heavily influenced by alcohol. Sudeikis SEEMS to be the nice guy who couldn't quite break away from his claustrophobic hometown, but has gotten by okay by running his own bar. Hathaway went out into the larger world, met a guy that loves her but she just can't quite get on the same page with, and has returned home to lick her psychic wounds.

Meanwhile, across the globe in Korea, a Godzilla-like creature has begun to rampage through Seoul, wreaking great havoc during his sudden appearances out of thin air.

Believe it or not, these stories are linked. I won't say anymore. I will simply say that the two stars are terrific in this EXTREMELY inventive film. It takes some crazy twists and turns both of plot and character. Folks like Tim Blake Nelson add solid support. You've never seen anything like it. It's like some kind of twisted, millennial fairy tale. The tone is alternately playful and portentous. Funny and uncomfortable. Down-to-earth but larger than life. The final 30 minutes or so are sheer insanity. I sat in my theater seat, happy as heck to be seeing a film I couldn't out-guess, couldn't predict and could take my eyes off.

Why not 5 stars? Well, it feels a little stretched. The scenes of Hathaway & Sudeikis, even though well acted, are a bit repetitive. The town Hathaway is visiting seems to have no residents beyond the characters in the film. It's like the movie blew its budget for extras in Korea and had none left for the US! And occasionally, it just goes off the rails tonally. I'm okay with crazy shifts in tone...but when they appear accidental rather than purposeful, it's a problem. It doesn't happen often...but I guess what I'm saying is that the film is a highwire act, and sometimes the aerialist up there wobbles just a bit much.

But I doubt we'll have a more off-the-wall film in 2017. I certainly recommend it...but please go in with no expectations as to what you're about to see, and I think you'll like it much more.