Beware.
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writer: Gareth Edwards
Cast: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able & a few others
Studio: Magnolia
Special Features: Commentary, Deleted and Extended Scenes & HDnet: A Look at Monsters
Where did the creatures come from? How did they arrive at our planet? What do they want? These are all questions most monster movies are concerned with – the origins of the creatures. In Monsters, Godzilla has attacked Tokyo, and the film starts after the city’s been rebuilt. Or as writer and director Gareth Edwards says in his commentary, Monsters is a monster movie where most monster movies end. And he’s right. But his film’s different from other monster movies in another way, too. While it answers all of the above questions about the creatures – a quick bit of text at the outset explains everything – it’s focus is much more intimate… much more “of this world.”
Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was quickly sent out to collect samples, but it crashed upon re-entry in Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear. In an effort to limit the destruction that resulted from these creatures unexpected arrival, half of Mexico was quarentined as an “infected zone” where the creatures would be contained. The US and Mexican military now struggle to keep the massive creatures in the area.
With the creatures and the “infected zone” creating problems, Andrew (McNairy), a photographer, is sent to retrieve his boss’ daughter, Samantha (Able), who injured her arm while in Central America. Andrew resents being forced to “babysit” Sam as she tries to get home, but he does as he’s asked – everyone has to make a living. And it’s not as though it’s a difficult assignment: take a train to the coast and board a ferry home. But nothing is as easy as it should be in a world where enormous, alien creatures exist.
Monsters is Gareth Edwards’ film, as he’s both writer and director. While his script’s sufficient – it meanders a bit and never develops his characters – his direction is superb. He basically walked around Central America with his leads, who are pretty much the only “actors” in the film, capturing the scenery and culture, and asking people if they’d like to be in his film. While he creates a genuine world for his characters, he doesn’t lean much on science fiction. Yes, alien creatures have crashed on our planet, which is a concept that’s spun many a sci-fi yarn, but they’re presence is small and more metaphorical than anything else.
Edwards uses the creatures to make several social and political statements (immigration, foreign-policy, etc.). He’s occasionally heavy-handed with his comments, but he’s never preachy. The creatures are also mostly an omnipresent threat heard bellowing from within the dense jungle. They could’ve actually been replaced by any type of crisis (i.e. civil unrest, terrorist attack, natural disaster, etc.) that would’ve forced the protagonists together, as Monsters is more about their relationship than the creatures. This is a dramatic romance in disguise where the creatures provide the context for Andrew and Samantha to be together.
But the banality of the creatures existence works both for and against the film. The creatures roar from the jungle at all hours, the “infected zone” is a constant reminder, fences and walls are everywhere and the military’s presence is strong. Yet, people are surprisingly well adjusted to all of this. Life simply carries on like any other developing, war-torn area: poverty is widespread and life is hard. It’s a believable world for the creatures to exist. But the lack of creatures on-screen and the relative normalcy of the world grounds the majority of the film to a point where I felt like I was just watching a run-of-the-mill love story unfold. Credit Scoot McNairy’s and Whitney Able’s low-key performances, however, for keeping their oil-and-water characters from becoming full-blown clichés, but a little more depth to them could’ve made the film’s mid-section much more eventful.
It isn’t until the third act before Edwards finally allows his creatures and his characters to affect each other in a way entirely unique to his vision. Their interaction also offers insight into his ultimate intent with this project. This is a human drama, and even though the moment involves alien creatures, it’s a very human moment. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s a beautiful moment in a film where memorable moments are few and far between. I just felt it came a little too late.
Monsters is okay for what it is – a love story with incredibly mild sci-fi overtones – but a monster movie it is not.