Review of Monsters (2010) by Karim G — 18 Sep 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

After seeing the satisfying Godzilla film by Gareth Edwards, I was curious to find out and watch the rest of the director's filmography. It turns out that his previous film was his debut feature film, Monsters. Expectations were not particularly high with this film as I have glanced over some of the ratings that others have given it, and there were a number of people that gave it a low score. After seeing Monsters, it did not convert me into a fan of the director, but it did help improve my perspective towards his sophomore film, even if his debut was a little underwhelming. Monsters is rough around the edges but Edwards delivers enough to prevent it from being a disaster.

If you have not yet seen this film, but planning to watch it, I just want to inform you that this film is not an accurate representation of what or how it is being marketed by the studio. The film's premise of extra-terrestrials or "monsters" is used more as a supplement to the human story that drives it. Ideas of war, violence, division, and corruption are clearly in display here, but I felt it was handled poorly and translating it to the primary intention of the film, which is the journey of its two protagonists. The film sets up a goal of reaching to a certain destination, but never does it along the way, gain a better insight of what is happening around them; Edwards could have given these characters an opinion or a personality that reflects something towards the situation even if the story does not dwell on it, it would have made these characters feel mulch-dimensional. It was not until the final 10 minutes of the film where, I felt, the film truly shined. It gives its audience a clear nudge that Edwards was trying to say something with these characters and what they went through, but for that to be realised only in its final minutes would mean that Edwards failed to create accessibility and a sense of focus in its previous hour. That being said, its final moments did display layers of the characters that I did not even know existed and it has intrigued me in wanting to return to this in the future, possibly back to back with the director's currently released films.

I believe that seeing Godzilla before this film, allowed me to appreciate this film easier as its slow burning style of storytelling can be alienating for people who are inexperienced to Gareth Edwards' work. Monsters is practically an older sibling of the director's sophomore film, it provides themes and a storyline that is more mature and personal, while Godzilla plays out more like from a younger mindset, filled with visual spectacle and simplistic but accessible characters. Though his filmography is small, one is able to see the progression he has made as a filmmaker and the potential that he may one day reach.

Monsters is a slightly above average debut from Gareth Edwards that succeeds in creating a gripping premise and setting but fails to develop a story that tightly ties with it. I definitely plan to come back to this in the future and hopefully during then, I am able to discover the hidden gems that I may have walked over during my initial viewing.