Colossal (2017)

Memorable, crazy movie

I wanted to but couldn't!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Considering this production began pre Trump era, the film is disturbingly prescient. The film's rather unsubtle premise is that small town America effectively has the world at its mercy though the importance of this demographic's vote and America's hegemonic power. Essentially it says that alienated males will screw over the world in response to frustrations caused by a sense of disempowerment and missing out. The film also seems to criticise hedonistic urban America in a manner that smacks of anti individualism and jealousy, presumably because the writer/director came from Spain, a third world country. The film also has a lot of black humour which somewhat undermines the susan sontagness, although perhaps not enough. The film could of been more interesting exploring this darkness rather than going for the cheap ending.

Great concept, but very unlikable characters. Jason Sedeikis was especially bad.

Okay, Colossal starring Anne Hathaway isn't all that bad, but besides making a good movie review title, it was also certainly underwhelming. Written and directed by some guy named Nacho, this indie flick knows it's a weird one. But that's not the issue. Starring Anne Hathaway as the lazy, drunk Gloria, she quickly gets kicked out by her boyfriend in order to change her lifestyle around. So, she returns to her small hometown that she left all those years ago. Needing any kind of job, she ends up going to work for her old childhood friend Jason Sudeikis at his bar. The movie starts embracing its weirdness once Gloria figures out that at a certain time at a certain place at a park, she controls the movements of a giant monster thing that suddenly appears in Seoul, South Korea. As a quick side note, the homage to Godzilla of shots of little Asian kids screaming at the monster is probably my favorite thing about the movie. Again, when the film is full out strange with Gloria and the monster simultaneously dancing, everybody's having a grand ol' time. But the downfall comes with Nacho. The dialogue is nothing to write home to your sweetheart about, and the directing hinders the actors' abilities instead of letting them go to work. But Mr. Nacho's worst crime is the story itself. Strange, promising premise, sure, but once you realize that's all it is, it starts to unravel. Gloria is a flawed character to start out with, but she basically redeems herself within the first 30 minutes. So at this point it's like well shoot, we need some kind of conflict! And lo and behold a manufactured conflict is created. It's not even worthy of being called a plot twist. The conflict is so forced and deprived of any motivation or intensity that you wish it went back to Gloria and the monster doing their stuff. Alas, the audience has to sit through an hour of the conflict just to wait to see how it's resolved. Quite honestly, this film could have been a made as a long short film and been much better. Nacho came up with an interesting idea, but he didn't know what to do with it. The actors are enjoyable, but even they feel lazy when they have Nacho directing them. Seeing Colossal wouldn't be any huge mistake or anything, but just don't expect it to have all the charms and quirks that one would to get out of an indie flick like this. All in all, this film is more like a colossal meh. You can find this review and dozens of others at gillipediamoviereviews.blogspot.com

Odd fantasy film about power, control, and monsters (both within and without). Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is an alcoholic, self-destructive writer who ends up returning to her small town home, where she starts hanging out with child-hood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). Soon after, a giant monster appears in Seoul that seems to mirror her behaviour when she is a specific point in a playground. She is initially amused, but when her drunken cavorting results in multiple deaths, realizes that there can be disastrous consequences to thoughtless behaviour. Unfortunately, Oscar also discovers that he too can generate a giant avatar, which he uses as leverage in his increasingly abusive relationship with Gloria. The film is an enjoyable, well-acted parable despite a number of plot holes, lapses in logic, and a cast of not particularly likable characters. Don't hold your breath for an explanation, none is offered beyond a cryptic flashback sequence that connects Oscar and Gloria with the time and place of the monster manifestations. Note: Toho threatened to sue based on early descriptions of the project that implied that Gloria's kaiju would be similar to Godzilla, however, there is little resemblance other than both creatures occasionally break into dance (see 1965's "Invasion of The Astro Monster" for an example of Godzilla's moves).