I just watched a very interesting film, Monsters, by a certain Gareth Edwards. What a surprise of a movie! First lets examine the film's premise as described in imdb.
"Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border."
What do you expect judging form the name, the premise and the poster? I was expecting something along the lines of Cloverfield or District 9. I expected big CGI monsters and action scenes. That is absolutely not what I got, and this is a good thing, a very good thing. And for the record I have nothing against the two aforementioned films, I enjoyed both quite a bit and recommend them on their own merits.
Monsters is a slow paced film about a journalist and a rich girl that have to get back to the USA from Mexico. But it turns out that the north of Mexico is infested with Aliens that look like giant cephalopods. I will not reveal more of the plot as I do not find it necessary for my current purpose. All I want to do is applaud this film for using science fiction in a movie in a radically different way than is the norm. That is it isn’t an action film, and its barely a horror film.
The best way I could describe it is as realistic Science Fiction, realistic and low key. It takes a concept that we expect to involve exhilarating action scenes that show disasters and battles. And yes there is some of this, but very little and the main characters barely take part it in. Instead the film focuses on the personal story of its two main characters, while it reveals the details of the greater plot in the background. This leads to the alien setting feeling a bit causal yet still central to the film. And by doing away with hefty actions sequences that are oh so overdone in the genre, it encourages some genuine thinking from the part of the spectator.
Many science fiction movies offer interesting settings and ideas, yet get bogged down in the spectacle. This was certainly the case in District 9. Which starts as an innovative and intriguing film but ends as a very good but standard action sci-fi romp. Monsters manages to keep the sense of innovation an intrigue of the first half of District 9 throughout.
I have talked a lot about the execution of the film, but the content is also of interest. The way it deals with the alien "invaders" is very naturalistic and it is not overly in your face about it. It slowly paints a picture of the state of the world and is very subtle in its conclusion. It manages to transmit its message and setting effectively without heavy-handed exposition form the part of the characters.
I have come to hate the way that big budget movies have become so vacuous in their use of CGI and special effects. It is clear that for many in the industry special FX are no longer a vehicle for a great story, as they were in films like Jurassic Park, but have become an end in themselves. Monsters is the antithesis to this, it features some great special effects, mainly in the backdrops. Showing an excellent vision of towns overtaken by nature and in the monsters themselves. But it never goes for the cool factor. These FX are used because they are needed, not in gratuitous 15 minutes long chase sequences.
A lot of people will hate this film for all the reasons that I like it. I imagine that many raged as they spent their money in the cinemas expecting a thrilling monster movie but instead got a subtle and naturalistic take on a science fiction staple. All I can say is that if you like science fiction not because of the spaceships, guns and super soldiers but because of the interesting ideas about how people would react to hypothetical situations then this film just might be for you.
P.S: In some ways this film reminded me of the video game Half Life 2, but with a lesser focus on action. It is similar to the game in that it drops you in a setting and doesn’t rely on exposition to tell its story, instead it trust you to be smart and put the pieces together from what is shown on the screen. This end up being a much more rewarding experience. The atmosphere is also similar in ways, the film is not as all out apocalyptic as Half Life 2, but has a similar feel.
"Six years after Earth has suffered an alien invasion a cynical journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border."
What do you expect judging form the name, the premise and the poster? I was expecting something along the lines of Cloverfield or District 9. I expected big CGI monsters and action scenes. That is absolutely not what I got, and this is a good thing, a very good thing. And for the record I have nothing against the two aforementioned films, I enjoyed both quite a bit and recommend them on their own merits.
Monsters is a slow paced film about a journalist and a rich girl that have to get back to the USA from Mexico. But it turns out that the north of Mexico is infested with Aliens that look like giant cephalopods. I will not reveal more of the plot as I do not find it necessary for my current purpose. All I want to do is applaud this film for using science fiction in a movie in a radically different way than is the norm. That is it isn’t an action film, and its barely a horror film.
The best way I could describe it is as realistic Science Fiction, realistic and low key. It takes a concept that we expect to involve exhilarating action scenes that show disasters and battles. And yes there is some of this, but very little and the main characters barely take part it in. Instead the film focuses on the personal story of its two main characters, while it reveals the details of the greater plot in the background. This leads to the alien setting feeling a bit causal yet still central to the film. And by doing away with hefty actions sequences that are oh so overdone in the genre, it encourages some genuine thinking from the part of the spectator.
Many science fiction movies offer interesting settings and ideas, yet get bogged down in the spectacle. This was certainly the case in District 9. Which starts as an innovative and intriguing film but ends as a very good but standard action sci-fi romp. Monsters manages to keep the sense of innovation an intrigue of the first half of District 9 throughout.
I have talked a lot about the execution of the film, but the content is also of interest. The way it deals with the alien "invaders" is very naturalistic and it is not overly in your face about it. It slowly paints a picture of the state of the world and is very subtle in its conclusion. It manages to transmit its message and setting effectively without heavy-handed exposition form the part of the characters.
I have come to hate the way that big budget movies have become so vacuous in their use of CGI and special effects. It is clear that for many in the industry special FX are no longer a vehicle for a great story, as they were in films like Jurassic Park, but have become an end in themselves. Monsters is the antithesis to this, it features some great special effects, mainly in the backdrops. Showing an excellent vision of towns overtaken by nature and in the monsters themselves. But it never goes for the cool factor. These FX are used because they are needed, not in gratuitous 15 minutes long chase sequences.
A lot of people will hate this film for all the reasons that I like it. I imagine that many raged as they spent their money in the cinemas expecting a thrilling monster movie but instead got a subtle and naturalistic take on a science fiction staple. All I can say is that if you like science fiction not because of the spaceships, guns and super soldiers but because of the interesting ideas about how people would react to hypothetical situations then this film just might be for you.
P.S: In some ways this film reminded me of the video game Half Life 2, but with a lesser focus on action. It is similar to the game in that it drops you in a setting and doesn’t rely on exposition to tell its story, instead it trust you to be smart and put the pieces together from what is shown on the screen. This end up being a much more rewarding experience. The atmosphere is also similar in ways, the film is not as all out apocalyptic as Half Life 2, but has a similar feel.
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