Ella es un monstruo

The viewer feels little compassion for the problems these characters both find and make for themselves. Worse, the characters wreak murderous destruction on an Asian nation, but we're supposed to feel sorry for their romantic entanglements? The story, such as it is, is told thru the wrong end of the telescope.

Fist off, this is a good film. Let me get that out of the way. To h*ll with the haters. It's smart. Clever. Unique. If you pay attention there are plenty of gags. Hathaway shines and all the rest. It's just NOT the film the trailers lead people to believe, and I really hate that. The trailers filled seats with people who were expecting to see some quirky romcom and instead they got 'Annie Darko' and wound up hating it. And this is a major pet peeve of mine. The same thing happened with "White God" This kind of advertising always backfires. The PR dpt just puts together any trailer they think will fill the seats on opening night, then it brings the wrong audience and hurts the film in the long run. Colossal should have been advertised like "Motorama" or "The Dark Backwards"... or "Eating Raul". It's a dark edgy comedy and it's not supposed to be of the 'wacky wild hilarity' genre'. OK, it's not a life altering cinema, but it is far better than most of the critiques I've read. And one thing all those critiques had in common...? They all said it wasn't what they were expecting, or it couldn't figure out what it wanted to be. Wrong. The film was exactly what it was trying to be. The viewers just couldn't figure out what it was doing because they all thought it was trying to do something else.... primarily because of the way it was presented. Not that it's easy to describe. Just abandon your preconceived notions before you watch. I actually like it better than the film I thought it would be.

By watching the marketing campaign, you are lead to believe this film is more light-hearted and comical.

Upon watching, the true underlining meaning becomes more apparent and it touches on a more dark subject matter, that apparently was lost on some viewers. It is a very real world dynamic in the relationship between Gloria (Anne Hathaway) and Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) that was well executed in this manner of storytelling.

It very difficult to say why this film is worth watching without "Spoilers", but I enjoyed this film; even the second time around, watching it on Netflix just recently.

Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a mess. Her existence revolves around drinking, sleeping and abusive men. Dumped by her boyfriend, Gloria returns to her hometown in a half-hearted attempt to begin again. She continues to be a sucker for abuse. The men in Gloria's life, each controlling in their own way, manipulate her will-power as much as the alcohol.

At about the same time a gigantic monster begins stalking Seoul. Gloria discovers a connection between this monster, herself and her tragic relationships with men and the bottle.

Endearing qualities of the film include touching scenes, powerful underlying themes and independent charm. Yet the storyline is disjointed and lacks effective transitions. Gaps need to be filled in the writing/directing. Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis and Tim Blake Nelson are fun to watch, yet Nelson seems somewhat restrained. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival.

I just saw a sneak preview of Colossal. I really liked the concept of the movie, it was original and fun. Sadly there was something lacking in the execution. It just didn't feel put together correctly, like there was something in the story telling that was missing that would have made it more compelling.

Anne Hathaway was cast a bit too far out of character. She just wasn't quite believable as the wastrel party girl. She couldn't quite pull off acting drunk. Her character's story is a classic redemption tale, with the monster twist.

Jason Sudeikis plays her foil in the story. His character arc is very poorly handled. There wasn't enough setup, almost like a few scenes in the middle were cut. That being said, he played it pretty well, except it was hard to tell when he was supposed to be drunk.

As I've mentioned both main characters being drunk, there is a lot of drinking in this movie. The central movie set being the bar run by Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) where Gloria (Anne Hathaway) starts working. This is after returning to a home her parent's left vacant, and after being kicked out by her boyfriend for being a party girl who can't get her life together. This is where I would caution that this isn't really an appropriate movie for children, despite the silly almost cartoon premise.

The bottom line of a movie review is the recommendation of whether or not to see it. If you are bothered by plot holes and trite characters, you probably want to steer clear. If you like silly popcorn movies, you might want to give it a shot. I don't feel like I wasted 2 hours on the movie, but I probably wouldn't watch it again.