Too much of everything

So much average

Simply Perfect

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Alien monsters exist and they are on earth, while governments and their armies are at war the ordinary person on the street is living in war zones. A journalist agrees to escort one of his boss's daughters across the Mexico/America border through the war zone. This movie was apparently made on a shoe string budget but doesn't often look cheap. As far as visual style and acting go they are pretty average enough to not offend, even if you never really see a monster properly. The main problem that I found was that this film was boring in places and went on far too long. This felt more of a voyage of discovering two characters rather than anything to do with Monsters, the suspense and scares were far too apart to cause any lasting emotion. As the film dragged on I kept wanting one of the character to get eaten to make things more lively, alas this didn't happen. Don't expect a thrill-a-minute ride, not much happens; they talk, they hide, they talk, they run, they talk, they cross the border, they talk. Maybe this film tries to be too clever by implying metaphors and coincidences and thus becomes pretentious, either way I stopped caring because it was soo limp and boring. I'm glad I won't have to watch this one again.

When you read MONSTERS you kinda expect something remotely related, even if obviously warped by human malevolent or simply intrigued perception. So, on a low budget or inspiration, or both it was decided to make a drama/road movie/thriller/teen movie/.../sci-fi kind of mix just to mess with your head. Just as lost in the plot / concept of the movie are the characters who just manage to be stupid in the end. Icing on the cake: even worse actors. So when you don't know what to do just add a little bit of everything and give it some flashy title to cover for all of the incompetence of screenwriters, casting department, actors, etc. Not bad CGI and imagery, but because of the low budget... well you don't get much of that. There are so many monster movie out there who manage to get the better of acting, production, etc (take THE MIST or CLOVERFIELD), but this poor display of cinematography is nowhere near them.

This movie is more about the monsters within us in our lonely existence.The tone and the pace of this movie is what capture the audience , seeing how two people fall in love over the course of a road trip . Although Gareth Edwards eventually became the director that we now know from such movies like Godzilla and Rogue One , I still think that this one is by far his best movie to date.

Monster's was shot out of the back of a van for three weeks in Mexico and Central America. Three of those seven were director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) and our two stars, Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able. What these three and the remaining crew have produced is something of a miracle. I was interested in finishing of Edwards filmography in preparation for the release of the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One, having already seen 2014's visually dazzling, if not to a fault, Godzilla. I can report with utmost confidence that Monsters is the far better film, bringing a human element to the monster genre like very few films of its kind. Maybe the most impressive aspect of the story is its politics, which, while Edwards said wasn't the intention, is a striking commentary on U.S./Mexico immigration. One could argue their is a clairvoyance to this movie. The U.S. has erected a wall that is meant to keep out alien invaders that have crash landed over Mexico during a NASA mission to affirm the existence of extraterrestrial life on one of Jupiter's moons. With that, we meet Andrew Caulder (McNairy), a broke photographer sent by his boss to find his daughter somewhere in southern Mexico. We meet the daughter Samantha (Able) and follow the two on their tumultuous journey back to the United States. While the twos' performances won't win any awards, they are serviceable enough to convincingly move along the plot which relies heavily on human interaction and relationship rather than the tentacled monsters for which the film was named. On their journey, the two bond with each other, both engulfed in family problems back home. In the films most beautiful and allegorical moment, Sam and Andrew climb to the top of a ruined pyramid from a civilization long past as they catch view of the towering border wall, reminiscing on how different their lives will be on the other side of the wall, free from fear and back to a normal routine. It is really quite moving and Edwards captures some stunning shots with his minimal equipment that rival anything released in 2010 (and that's saying something since Inception released the same summer). I would be remiss not to mention the titular space creatures. They really are only seen in a scene or two throughout the film and take a backseat to the human drama playing out. The ending scene is cinema perfection and Edwards deserves all the credit for self-animating the aliens using purchasable software in his bedroom. Also, a shout out to the many extras who were all natives of the country in which filming took place, they provide some of the most organic moments of the film and deserve praise. If Monsters tells me anything, it may be time for Edwards to return to low budget fare, where he gets the most of what he has available without being dragged down by the burden of franchise filmmaking.