Monsters

Starring: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able

Synopsis:

Six years ago, NASA sent a probe into deep space looking for extraterrestrial life in our galaxy. The probe returned with samples, but broke up in the atmosphere. The organisms that survived started to flourish throughout Northern Mexico, forcing the US to build a huge barrier and launch a heavily fought war against the organisms which grew into 100ft tall giant squid creatures.

Up and coming photo journalist Andrew Caulder, who is trying to get some decent pictures of the creatures, is tasked by the owner of the paper he works for with retrieving his daughter, Sam, who has become stranded. Due to the earlier-than-expected migration of the creatures, however, Caulder and Sam find themselves having to cross the Infested Zone, the heart of where the creatures reside.

Review:

Which ever way you look at it, Monsters is an amazing debut feature for writer/director/cinematographer Gareth Edwards, who gives us a whole new perspective on the Invading Creatures genre. Having said that, the film is going to have a rough ride because of the way it’s been marketed.

The main thing that needs to be understood about Monsters is that it isn’t a film about monsters. The fact that there are giant alien squid creatures roaming the countryside is only the back-drop to the real story, which is the journey undertaken by Caulder and Sam as they are drawn closer and closer to each other.

That setting/backdrop is quite amazing however, and one which has never been covered before. Consider Independence Day: a whole-scale invasion movie in which Earth kicks ET’s butt in less than four days. Consider for that matter any monster movie – the creature(s) turn up, the protagonists eventually find a solution to get rid of them, the end. The creatures of Monsters are huge, some of them over 100ft tall, and no one has been able to get close enough to examine them. In fact, the film suggests that the US military hasn’t bothered to try. Caulder and Sam however discover things about the creatures which give them a whole new perspective. Either the creatures have managed to adapt to the local ecology, or mother nature has welcomed them with open arms.

A lot of the film plays as a travelogue, somewhere between a Michael Palin episode and a Top Gear Special where the presenters are tasked with crossing a strange country in some badly designed transport. Caulder and Sam’s journey takes them by ferry, train, boat, armed escort and finally on foot, alone. All along the way, as Caulder snaps pictures, Gareth Edwards truly earns his cinematographer credit with some beautiful imagery.

There is a moment when Caulder does indeed come across a dead child, a young girl, and starts digging into his camera bag. It’s at this moment that we start to see how the journey these people are taking is as much internal as external, and the destination is hardly as important as the journey itself.

As the creatures are nocturnal, they are actually absent for most of the film, popping up now and again to remind everyone exactly how dangerous their journey is. Most of the time, we are treated to the aftermath of a creature’s passing – destroyed buildings, downed aircraft, ships beached in tree tops. However when they do appear, they are pretty magnificent creatures to behold. When seen in news footage they look pretty rubbish but “up close” they’re pretty scary mainly due to their huge size.

The acting is great all the way through, and there is a natural feel to the dialogue. There are one or two minor issues though. There are a couple of instances when there is a nearby monster cry, and Caulder goes “what was that?”. Surely after 6 years people would know what the creatures sound like (to be fair though, at one point they think they hear a creature but it turns out to be a cow).

My main issue with the film – and again, one which hasn’t really spoilt my enjoyment of it – is the ending: not because of what happens, but the way it’s been presented. Without trying to give anything away, the film uses a certain narrative technique which I personally don’t like, but it masks it very well so you don’t realise until the end what it’s done. That probably doesn’t make any sense on paper as it were, but you’ll understand where I’m coming from when you watch it.

Verdict

8 out of 10 (MikeOutWest)

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