A Reel Review: MONSTERS

MONSTERS is a film that could not have been possible without the great success of DISTRICT 9. It is cut from the same cloth; taking a different take on a Humans vs. Aliens while adding a social statement and a love story.

NASA has discovered life on another planet, and sends a probe to collect samples. The probe then crash-lands in Mexico, unleashing menacing giant aliens. Mexico becomes a quarantined infected zone; walled-off by the U.S. and Mexican military. Six years after the crash, Andrew (Scoot McNairy) a cynical photojournalist must escort his bosses daughter Samantha (played by the cute-as-a-button Whitney Able) through the infected zone to get back home to the United States.

MONSTERS’ tale is mostly about Andrew and Sam’s relationship as they make their way across the Mexican jungles while avoiding the giant squid-like aliens. But the film is also loaded with metaphor, dealing with themes such as the cost of war, political results of disasters, and how countries react to them. It’s a little heavy-handed, but it serves as a nice backdrop to the narrative and never takes things over.

Where it does stumble a bit is the lack of any looming doom hanging over the characters’ heads. Despite their predicament, no real imminent danger is felt for most of the journey. The aliens are seen sparingly, and until the very end are never seen in whole. That’s a fine technique, as your creatures can be coy and still present a danger. MONSTERS spends a lot of time on their characters, but not on the danger. There is a scene near the end where Andrew is monolouge-ing about “all we’ve been through”; and the line is a bit of a groaner being that we really don’t feel like either character went through any kind of hell.

McNairy and Able carry both their characters well and fit the parts nicely. Andrew is a bit of a douche for most of the film, and it’s easy to hate him and not care whether he lives or dies (in the few moments he does get into any danger). Able, again is cute as a button. She doesn’t play the part as a damsel in distress as much as a damsel who just wants to survive a situation she doesn’t want to be in.

Visual effects are very good. The creatures only come out at night, and the lack of sunlight and direct illumination add to their mystery and unique design. Writer/director Gareth Edwards (this is his debut) does a remarkable job with the small budget (rumor has it he edited the film on his laptop), and the visual style and cinematography is unique and engaging.

The finale arrives with a whimper and not much of a bang, but it does draw some thoughtful comparisons between the humans and aliens. The question of who the real “monsters” are in the world sneaks up on you, and could have benefitted from being developed a bit more in the film. MONSTERS is a slow and prodding film with decent intelligence, but just could have benefitted from a bit more danger. Still, it’s good sci-fi.

BOTTOM LINE: See it.