Colossal

Colossal is one of those movies that advertises itself as one thing but reveals itself to be something else entirely. While the trailers try to sell it like someone was trying to write a romantic comedy after watching Pacific Rim, the reality couldn't be further from the truth. One trend I've been seeing in indie films lately that I really dig is taking bizarre, out-there premises that are initially played for comedy but slowly reveal themselves to be about something deeper, like how a movie about a talking, farting corpse is actually about personal isolation and the legacy of emotional abuse, or how a movie about a man who will turn into a lobster if he can't get a girlfriend becomes an examination of the absurdities of modern relationships. In Colossal's case, the idea of controlling a monster on the other side of the world turns into a metaphor for how self-destructive behavior affects the world around us.

Our story follows Gloria (Anne Hathaway), an unemployed, alcoholic writer who has burned more than a few bridges. After her boyfriend (Dan Stevens) breaks up with her and she's kicked out of their New York apartment, she moves back to her childhood home and reacquaints with an old friend, Oscar (Jason Sudeikis), who sets her up with a job at his bar. On the other side of the world in South Korea, a giant monster has been appearing out of nowhere and terrorizing Seoul before mysteriously disappearing. Gloria figures out that she's been controlling the monster, which only materializes and mimics her every move whenever she stands inside of a playground near her house. This becomes especially problematic when Oscar, who turns out to have some serious anger and control issues, discovers he has the same ability (except his avatar is a giant robot) and leverages this power to control Gloria.

The genius of Colossal is two-fold. As previously mentioned, taking two genres as disparate as the romantic comedy and kaiju films is a novel concept, but director Nacho Vigalondo uses the basic tropes of one to subvert the other. Any fan of kaiju series like Godzilla, Gamera and the like will tell you that while watching giant monsters rampage through the streets is the big drawing point, they're just as much about the human character arcs and how they intertwine with the walking disasters outside. As for the romantic comedy aspects, they're virtually nonexistent. I only really bring them up because that's what the trailer wants you to believe, but I'm here to tell you that the relationship is as far from romantic as you can get. Both of our leads have the same demon (alcoholism), but they cope in different ways, neither of which make them entirely sympathetic, and both of which cause major damage to themselves, their loved ones, and millions of strangers on the other side of the world. For any viewers who've dealt with alcoholics at any point in their life, these characters might be uncomfortably recognizable.

Of course, this is truly an actor's film. Anne Hathaway, playing against type, is easily the more relatable character, but she's not exactly likable. She's spoiled, selfish, irresponsible, and nearly all of the bad things that happened in her life were mostly her doing. The first time the monster appears in Seoul is when he drunkenly staggers through the playground at night on her way home from the bar. But there are people who haven't given up on her, as made evident by the fact that her ex-boyfriend checks up on her regularly to make sure she's alright. Jason Sudeikis, on the other hand, keeps his drinking problem low key, with his nice-guy persona slowly chipping away to reveal the bitter, entitled, controlling part of him that's been ruminating on the inside. Both are clearly having a blast with these roles, relishing and channeling their most fatal flaws for maximum effect.

Those looking a good kaiju fight might leave a little disappointed, because while it is the crux of the plot, it's not the main focus, only being brought into play during major plot points. About 70% of the movie is spent hanging out with Gloria, Oscar and their friends at the bar, but it becomes a major point of leverage when Oscar's true nature gets more out of control, culminating in a big blowout between the two that nearly results in the annihilation of Seoul, and is resolved in an amazingly clever way that I dare not spoil here, but was enough to make me shoe off the nagging question of why Gloria doesn't just stay away from that playground.

Overall, Colossal is a one-of-a-kind movie that may not be for everyone, but has a lot to offer for everyone who does choose to see it. The performances are outstanding, the premise is both clever and brilliantly executed, it has a lot to say about toxic behavior and relationships, there's a great balance between the humor and drama, and even though those looking for some kaiju action may leave a tad disappointed, there's still something there to tide them over. Don't be surprised if this ends up becoming a cult classic a few years down the line.

8/10.

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.

Attended a preview screening of this courtesy of a friend the other night with zero idea of what the movie was about so imagine to my surprise that it was a wry take on a Godzilla movie but with a seriously intriguing and rather perplexing narrative hook. If you're reading this right now, you're either deciding whether to see this, or you've already seen this and are looking for opinions on what other people thought.

Without spoiling anything I'll just say that i thought the director (who also wrote the script) does an impressive job of keeping you into the story being told, and just slightly off track as to what's around the bend story wise. There were a couple times watching this where I thought i knew where the story was going to go, but ended up being somewhat off the mark. As the movie kept going I also started to wonder how the heck the director was going to bring this thing to a satisfying ending, and the answer to that question was with a fantastic climactic sequence that i very much liked watching unfold but didn't quite hit the mark in terms of satisfying to me, but somehow still felt quite right in keeping in tone with what we had been watching the whole time.

So basically i'm just saying--its worth checking out but with some slight reservations about the story as it unfolded. (I personally thought the big reveal about the origins of the monster's appearance was a little too symbolic and mystical and out of the blue, but other people might like how its explained)

All that said, the main concept of the movie i thought was pretty superb, and I thought Anne Hathaway in a kind of role we rarely if ever see her play was excellent and does a tremendous job in a very difficult role. If you don't like her, you'll end up hating the movie because she is a very large component of the movie. I thought even tho her character is aimless, she did a terrific job of keeping her likable throughout, even when you're kind of cringing at some of the decisions she makes on screen. Similarly, i thought the performance of Jason Sudekis was also surprisingly good. He starts out the film the way you normally see him in films, as the seemingly good hart-ed, wry, slightly bumbling slob, but as the story unfolds and he gradually starts to change those very qualities ever so subtly, it may not be til very late in the film or possibly thinking about it on the way home that you realize how strong a job he did as well playing opposite Hathaway. (Dan Stevens for the record has a very smallish part so if you're going to see this specifically for him, you might be disappointed)

In closing i'll just say that if you already know the premise to the film and are wondering whether or not its for you, I'll just say that if you like slightly out there premises, you should check this out because overall despite again some narrative choices I might not have been too crazy about, i thought it was a very solidly engaging movie, and for what its worth, I didn't think it was too strange to appeal to people who think that this may be too far out there for their comfort zones/slightly more mainstream tastes.

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.

Greetings from Lithuania.

I found "Colossal" (2016) much more interesting, dark and deep then i thought i will be after reading a premise. This isn't your typical comedy staring Jason Sudeikis - it isn't funny movie, except if you are looking for some very dark comedy.

Premise here looks like from a mind of Spike Jonze of Charlie Kaufman. Although it isn't as brilliant as those two might have made this movie - i loved the story overall and movie itself.

Ovreall, "Colossal" is a kinda fresh take on a premise. There is a very dark humor down below, but i enjoyed it very much in a first place because of very solid writing, pacing (at running time 1 h 43 min this movie never dragged) and not by "a numbers" movie. Good, underrated movie.