Six years ago a NASA probe carrying possible alien life
forms crash landed in
Mexico.
Today, northern
Mexico is
known as the infected zone and the
US and Mexican military are trying to
contain the outbreak of 100 foot high aliens. South of the infected zone,
photographer Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) is on an assignment when he is
asked to check on his boss’s daughter, Sam (Whitney Able) who has somehow ended
up in a hospital near by. Kaulder’s boss tells him to make sure that Sam gets
out of
Mexico
and the two set off through the infected zone in an attempt to get to the
American border.
When I saw this film at the cinema a couple of years ago I
was blown away. It was made for only $500,000 with Director Gareth Edwards also
shooting the film and doing all of the special effects by him self at home. The
finished film looks anything but home made as Edward’s has created depth of
field with his cinematography and CGI which rivals all but the best that the
big Hollywood Studios produce. It is frankly astonishing that the film was made
with such a small budget and looks as good as it does. When I was at the cinema
back in 2010 there were a few walk outs and I think it probably has something
to do with the film’s title.
Monsters
is a human story and not a monster movie at all but rather a film which
features monsters, and sparingly. The alien creatures provide a backdrop to a relationship
drama with political undertones.
The political aspects of the film become more apparent towards
the end when the two characters are confronted with a giant wall to get across the
border having undergone a dangerous journey to get there. Aside from a few
other political moments such as talk of Kaulder being paid handsomely for a
photo of a dead child but nothing for a smiling child and people talking of
America sealing itself off in its own prison, the main focus of the film is the
relationship between the two lead characters who happen to be a couple in real
life. This familiarity helps to add to the connection and understanding between
the two of them and comes across well on screen. Both actors do a good job of
reacting to their surroundings and the ordeal they face. Most of the film’s dialogue
was ad-libbed but the finished film is coherent while remaining natural.
Considering the budget and themes I was glad that Edwards
stayed away from the found footage formula that more and more low budget films
are using these days. It would have been easy for him to have done this as he wouldn’t
have had to worry about such high production values but the traditional method
that has been used looks wonderful and has earned Edwards the honour of being
asked to direct the latest
Godzilla remake.
I personally think this is a shame because there must be hundreds of directors
who are capable of making a monster movie with a $70m budget but there are
probably very few who could make one for under $1m as Edwards has proved he
can. I’d like to have seen him stick with this method of film making for a few
more years.
As I mentioned earlier, the CGI is for the most part
excellent, especially considering that it was not an outside Special Effects company
that did the 200 plus effects in the film but the director on his own computer.
The creatures themselves, though they only appear a handful of times, look
spectacular from far away. This is not more so than in a quite superb scene in
which two of them appear to be dancing as they either court or mate with the
two human characters watching a gasp with tears in their eyes. When we see
close ups of the creatures, the effects aren’t so great but the shots of
destroyed buildings and downed helicopters are.
One criticism of the film is that it is hard to believe that
the aliens who show few signs of the capabilities could have caused as much
damage as they have. Another problem is that Sam’s father is incredibly wealthy
so why would he ask a photographer to save her rather than chartering a helicopter
or something similar? These are only minor faults however in a film which on
the whole is a triumph and shows what is possible when a film maker has a
vision and the ability to carry it through. With many film makers becoming ever
more marginalised by big budget remakes and franchises, we could see more of
this type of film making in the coming years and if they’re half as good as Monsters, I for one can’t wait to see
them.
9/10
