Review of Monsters (2010) by Dillinger P — 14 Mar 2014

Monsters is one of those films that has so much potential but for some reason just doesnt quite hit the mark, its not that its bad, its just done been done before mostly and better. Central America is in turmoil after a space probe returning with alien life crash lands, leaving the border between america and mexico "The infected Zone" a place where alien creatures grow, wars are waged and poverty is stricken all around.

During this time a photographer is left with the task of getting his bosses daughter home safely across the border and home to her fieance. The story is strong and the performances by the leads Mcnairy and Able are both compelling and intriguing.

Such is the attention to detail of all the surroundings and script. It just never really takes off, so to speak. The creatures are seen by the american government as a huge threat, but we never really get full glimpses of them, were more on the protganists side, seeing what they see, a tentacle here and there, a broken building, dead bodies.

Its all working in the right place but it just doesnt culminate to anything. There is no resolution, there is no answer, there is no pay off. its just a imalgimation of strong ideas and themes portrayed well through script, acting and set design.

The creature effects arent brilliant either. Their not shambolic, but its not until the very end they begin to look believable and even then were just left a bit deflated after the whole affair! It's so contained that we miss out on the pearl as such, this is more like a romance movie with a science fiction setting, interesting but muddled.

The end product is something worth watching but I dont think we will be ranting and raving about it in years to come.