Monsters

‘Monsters’ was one of my favourite films of 2010. With a film budget that managed to come in at under $500,000, Gareth Edwards debut feature film pulled out all the stops to be well up there with the Hollywood Blockbusters.

This is an amazing piece of film making and coming from a visual and special effects background, a sci-fi genre proved to be a wise choice to put Edwards directing skills into. Containing a strong narrative structure it focuses strongly on the emotional factors of the two main characters as they progress on their journey through borders and the ‘infected zone’. The effects used in this production worked extremely well and was very aesthetically satisfying leaving yourself feeling as if you were alongside the characters during their situations. A substantial amount of effects are used, however are not over the top and do not distract the viewers attention from the characters naturalistic actions and emotions leaving the viewer far from bored. 

The plot itself is quite unique, as the majority of sci-fi extra terrestrial films (such as ‘Cloverfield’, ‘Skyline’ and ‘Independence Day’) have the main sequences showing the emphasis of alien attacks, ‘Monsters’ taking a different approach, has the storyline set 6 years after the aliens have already landed on the earth. The main plot follows a young American journalist who is hired by his employer to guide the latter’s daughter back to the USA safe and sound. Both of the main characters appear to be going through separate crises.  Firstly ‘Andrew’ (a surrogate father played by Scoot McNairy) is worried he will have to miss his son’s 6^th birthday due to his horrifying job of taking photographs of the extra terrestrial’s damage and impact on the earth. Secondly, ‘Samantha’ (played by Whitney Able) is struggling to come to terms with her negative relationship with her father and her undecided upcoming marriage. The main idea is that they have to leave Mexico and make it back to the United States in the few days they have left otherwise they will have to wait 6 whole months before the next times to travel due to the migration patterns of the grounded aliens. During their journey together through the ‘infected zone’, as it is called in the film, the two characters develop an emotional bond and despite their current situations start to fall for one another. 

I feel that sci-fi works so much smoother when the storyline creates more character reactions to mysterious beings and dangerous situations, which adds to a strong narrative structure, rather than the world being filled with terror, dread and destruction. We’ve seen a constant array of productions where aliens land on the earth just to destroy it and of course humans being the ‘smarter’ out of the two just wait around for the army to blow the living hell out of them, which always seems to be the answer to everything. Aliens always seem to lose and this leads to a strong glorification and patriotism that America has, leading them to believe they can overcome anything that this universe throws at them and apparently this appears to be true with American filmmaking.

A majority of people have compared this film to ‘District 9’ (this is most definitely not a remake or a story spin off), however this film definitely has a different feel, only showing limited shock factor and by showing less interactions with the alien life forms, I feel this is more effective. 

If you’re looking for a sci-fi films with no holds barred war and destruction then this film will not be for you, but if you’re looking for a completely different attitude towards this genre, with a good quality narrative then this film will be the perfect viewing for you.