Monsters (2010)

VERDICT:
7/10 Gringo Getaways

Kidnapping, diarrhea water and 100-foot-tall land-walking octopi from outer space. Three great reasons I will never go to Mexico.

Monsters takes place six years after aliens landed on Earth, ripped shit up and turned a huge chunk of Central America into a breeding ground for squids the size of the Chrysler Building. So when an American photojournalist ends up having to escort his boss’ daughter through the said breeding ground and back to American soil, he’s none too happy about the situation, but they head out through the wasteland all the same and do their best to dodge getting eaten, crushed, or whatever it is that giant aliens do when they get pissed off.

I don’t know where I was when this was out in theaters, ’cause it wasn’t until months after it came and went that everyone around the blogosphere started writing about it and indirectly made me feel shame for dropping the ball in a year where I thought I’d done a pretty kickass job of hitting the theater. Anywho, I’ve been counting down the days until this came to Netflix Instant, and after finally getting a chance to judge the hype for myself, it’s nice to find that a lot of it is actually warranted.

Written and directed by newcomer Gareth Edwards whose budget for this was apparently five nickels and food stamps, it’s pretty effing wild the stuff he manages to pull off and pull off well. As far as dystopias are concerned, this one’s more along the lines of Children of Men than War of the Worlds. Even with the mega octopi running around, the destruction is subtle and it’s all in the details. No flaming trains, no military raids, just decaying buildings that have long since been abandoned, faded billboards of gas masks and forbidden zones, and it feels lived-in, like the citizens of Mexico just started adapting to the invasion rather than turn their homes into more of a warzone than it already is. It’s nothing too in-your-face, and considering that I think Children of Men is more or less the be-all end-all when it comes to capturing the apocalypse on film, I very much dig that about this movie.

And on top of that, the special effects totally rock. Not only are the octopi some fresh looking creatures that blend in gorgeously to their real-life surroundings, but the same thing goes for all the rusted and busted planes, trains and automobiles that riddle the landscapes. Man, this thing looks beautiful even without the special effects. If it weren’t for all that kidnapping nonsense that I mentioned earlier, I’d be half-tempted to book it down to Mexico to see some of these sights for myself. But alas, it just ain’t worth the ransom money.

So going off the title, the synopsis and all this talk of sweet special effects and such, one might lead to believe that this would be nothing short of a 93-minute rush of uncut, Colombian adrenaline to the face. Sorry to disappoint those of you who had your hopes up in this regard, but this is not that kind of movie. Yeah, the monsters are there and the title isn’t exactly false advertising since they do run train on some trigger-happy hermanos here and there, but it’s not really about that.

In fact, it ends up being more of a metaphor for illegal immigration than anything else (at least I think it was), and as lame as that may sound, it works because Gareth knows the story he’s trying to tell and he knows he doesn’t have the budget for ¡Viva la Cloverfield! Instead of a non-stop thrill ride, he gives us two great characters that are easy to connect to and who have a lot going on below the surface, and while that may not seem as interesting as the aliens around them, you’d be surprised. It marches to the beat of its own drum, it’s almost like The Motorcycle Diaries mixed with E.T. or something, and I like how different it is. Nice to see a new take on a genre that’s usually lacking in the thinking department and doesn’t tend to leave a whole lot of room for interpretation.

And the acting’s good, too. Scoot McNairy (short for Scooter, I guess?) and Whitney Able play our accidental tourists Andrew and Samantha respectively, and for two actors who are newcomers in my book, they’re really good. Well, the roles don’t exactly require a whole lot from ’em, but they come off as very natural and it’s fun to watch them together. I cared about these two, they felt real, and they carried the movie. Nice acting and writing combo at play here.

But, unfortunately, poor Scoot has to go shirtless at one point and is forced to reveal the blatantly obvious tramp stamp that he must regret in the absolute worst way. Doesn’t have anything to do with the movie as a whole, but since the male tramp stamp is a rare thing to behold and I can only imagine the kind of shit he must have gotten for that, it must be mentioned. Exactly why I keep second-guessing the tattoo I wanna get.

So for those who are intrigued, the double-edged sword of Monsters is that it’s probably not what you’d expect. I can see how some folks would love the anti-creature feature approach and I can see how it would disappoint the hell out of others. But for such a low budget, it accomplishes way more than I expected and it’s smart enough to play to the strengths of its downplayed script rather than rely on superficial eye candy. It’s a movie that I’ve been thinking a lot about since finishing it and it’s a movie I’ll probably keep on thinking about until I can actually talk to someone else about it, and even though I wish it had more excitement to balance out the buildup, it’s pretty damn impressive.