2017 movies

War for the Planet of the Apes Review

| Rachel's Reviews

I just had an exhilarating experience at the movies! I saw all 3 Planet of the Apes movies including the latest film War for the Planet of the Apes. This was a special marathon screening, which allowed me to see it a day earlier than the wide release preview screenings tomorrow. It all worked out perfectly for me because I leave for D23 in the morning and wouldn’t have been able to see it for a couple of weeks otherwise.

Anyway, what did I think of the experience?  Honestly I feel a little overwhelmed and wouldn’t write this review but I know I won’t have any other time to do so because of D23.

Let’s talk about the series. I love this series. It is one of my favorite trilogies. I love the special effects, characters, writing and everything else. On the rewatch they all held up quite well. I still have to debate which is my favorite but they are honestly quite different.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a well executed scifi/monster movie with real heart. They were still working on the special effects and the middle lags a bit but the relationships and ending are amazing.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is an emotional film while still managing to be entertaining. I love Gary Oldman in it and the moment when he is able to see his children’s photos again I’ll never forget. I love Caesar and Koba’s different perspectives on war and diplomacy. It is full of emotional moments and characters and I love it.

So here we get to the latest entry War for the Planet of the Apes. Wow! It’s tough for me to describe the experience I had. It was honestly different than what I was anticipating. I think Dawn is more of a Rambo-esque war movie so I suppose that is what I was expecting but this is different. It’s a brutal tense prisoner of war movie for most of the film.

I don’t want to give much of the plot away but basically Caesar and his people come into contact with a radical military group led by The Colonel played by Woody Harrelson. At first they play cat and mouse with each other and then it becomes a prison experience and it can be very tough to watch. I haven’t seen a movie this brutal on its characters since Silence, which I hated but this has much more humanity and redemption than that film. It also explores themes of forgiveness, mercy and compassion in powerful ways.

All of the characters get moments to shine even Koba gets a bit of redemption in a way. I particularly loved Maurice (he’s always been a favorite of mine). He adopts a mute little girl along the way and she is a symbol of hope throughout the film.

Director Matt Reeves and his team should be very proud of what they have accomplished with this film. It is the least rewatchable of the apes movies but that’s not a bad thing. It was visceral, brutal and thought provoking. The visuals are flawless. Andy Serkis is amazing playing Caesar and you completely forget these aren’t actual apes but men in motion capture suits.  Congrats to all involved for an amazing trilogy and for ending on such a bold film and hats off to Fox for allowing them to make it. Incredible.

I wouldn’t be surprised if War for the Planet of the Apes is the most divisive of the three films.  I loved it but it is violent and somewhat unrelentingly bleak. They have a comic relief of an ape called Bad Ape but it is few and far between. If you love these characters it can be hard to watch them suffer so much. Also the way it uses music builds anxiety to the max for the viewer. Not everyone will like this.

There is also some fairly heavy handed social commentary with the Colonel building a wall and some other plot points that might annoy people. I thought it was handled well but I can see it annoying others.

All that said, I loved this film. It was an amazing ending for the trilogy and I left feeling like I had seen something truly special. It is challenging but in a good way and the ending was pitch perfect. If you love this trilogy you’ve got to see it!

Overall Grade- A


The Beguiled Review

| Rachel's Reviews

Yesterday I had the chance to see one of the most buzz worthy films of the summer: The Beguiled, directed by Sophia Coppola. Heavily praised out of Cannes Film Festival and by many critics I went into it with some enthusiasm. I even watched the original 1971 film for Hit Me With Your Best Shot to get ready.  Coming out of the film I wasn’t all that thrilled with it. The Beguiled is ok but not as good as the original and Coppola makes a lot of weird choices I didn’t understand that made it more languid and removed much of the tension. This was a thriller without any thrills.

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Let’s start with the positives. First of all, The Beguiled is a gorgeous film and it is worth seeing for the stunning cinematography, lighting, production design and costumes alone. All of these aspects are significant improvements upon the original. I love how it felt like candlelight and it reminded me of The Others (a favorite of mine) in the way it used light and shadow to create mood.  If it isn’t nominated for best costumes at the Oscars that will be a real travesty.

I also think the acting is all good. It’s what Coppola does with the performances that is the problem. All of the ladies do a decent job with what they are given. I have issues with Colin Farrell’s character but it isn’t really his fault. Again, he does a good job with what he is given.

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Now to talk about the problems…and unfortunately that begins with the way Farrell’s character is written. In the 1971 film Corporal John McBurney is an obvious predator that fixates quickly on the most plain girl in the house, Edwina (more on her in a minute). He does this at the same time the more striking Alicia is throwing herself at him. This builds tension so much more than the over-all nice guy this version shows. I didn’t really buy most of the decisions he makes here as they seemingly came out of nowhere.

For example, one scene that is missing from the original is where McBurney tries to seduce the house slave. She is the only one who is in on his game and will have nothing to do with him. It makes it clear this is not a nice man, which makes the tone feel scary as you worry about the women of the house. In this version, Coppola decided to eliminate the slave character completely. I understand why she did it for PC reasons, but I think it hurt McBurney’s character development and made all the girls feel similar since there was no contrasting presence.

beguiled3Now getting to the girls. The character development for them is sadly also lacking. Edwina is supposed to be very plain and Kirsten Dunst is far too pretty to play this part. The plain appearance is important because like I said it makes McBurney’s advances more creepy and his seductions more alluring to the homely Edwina. Here her decisions don’t seem to match with the rest of her character or personality and her stunning dresses don’t help in making her feel mousy either!

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It goes the same with the other women. Alicia is not developed at all when in the original she is a real vixen tempting McBurney. The school matron Martha played by Nicole Kidman is also written very flatly. In the original she is a sexual deviant with a strange twisted past. Here she is a nice Southern lady trying to protect her girls. It just doesn’t have the same tension or thrills because their choices are way more predictable and obvious.

I appreciate that Coppola wanted to make a story about women but why not write them as complex characters with interesting backstories and motivations? Or if you aren’t going that route make the situations the stock characters are in scary and fun. Neither is the case here. I wonder if she felt afraid to make her characters more flawed, as the original does, for fear of it not being seen as empowering or a feminist film? Who knows but I don’t get it?

It’s hard without spoilers but there is also a scene where Martha is forced to make a decision and in the original film it is clear she does not need to make that choice. However, here it is the opposite. It is portrayed that if she does not make the choice McBurney will die. This does not work because McBurney’s anger at these ‘crazy women’ seems unjustified when in the original it is definitely not. According to this film they’ve just saved his life but he turns into an insane person. It’s a scene (and final 3rd of the film) that should have been full of tension but it’s not  because all the ambiguity has been lost.

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This will sound weird but this version is oddly more pg13ish than the original. More often than not, it plays it safe and doesn’t explore darker themes or twisted character motivations like it could have. It makes it kind of boring and predictable.

All that said, it’s not an awful movie. It is pretty and worth watching for the visuals alone but I just can’t figure out why Coppola made choices that seemed to neuter her gothic thriller? Watch this film and then watch the original, and I think you will see what I mean. This is a nice looking film but a thriller it is not.

Overall Grade- C+


As far as content there is a little bit of blood and brief sensuality but I’m not even sure why it is rated R to be honest. It seemed about the same as My Cousin Rachel and that is a pg-13. The original is way more R rated.

Transformers: the Last Knight Review

| Rachel's Reviews

So I got to see the latest Transformers film today, Transformers: the Last Knight. You can watch my youtube review above but let me give a quick synopsis of my thoughts. Basically if you are a fan of this franchise then I see no reason why you won’t enjoy Transformers: the Last Knight. It was a chance to change things up a bit with the recent writers room and some of the more zany elements but unfortunately that potential was not met. It’s not the worst of the franchise but it wasn’t a strong film.

Transformers: the Last Knight is directed by Michael Bay and it bears all the hallmarks of a Bay film. The action and explosions are there. The macho dialogue and fist bumping is there. The dippy women and horrible comedy is there. So if you like that kind of thing, then you will like it. The trailer makes you think the King Arthur/WW2 stuff will be a big aspect and that intrigued me but it is very minor- especially the WW2 stuff. Most of it is seen through long stretches of exposition, which isn’t as fun as it could have been.

The action can be fun in a Bay film and there is some here that is enjoyable. The problem is there are so many characters and plotlines it is exhausting. Like there is Optimus turning evil, a Transformers queen riding Unicron that wants to take over the world, the 9th Legion guarding a secret from time of Merlin led by Anthony Hopkins, King Arthur stuff, sexy anthropologist woman, Mark Wahlberg hiding from authorities, a little girl and her robot sidekick, Josh Duhamel hunting down Wahlberg, Tony Hale and scientists following Unicron, Megatron and evil Transformers that are introduced like the Suicide Squad. I could go on…

All of these characters have plotlines and they just keep adding up until it becomes really confusing and exhausting. There’s a long scene in a submarine and I had no idea what that was all about and a staff from Merlin and Mark Wahlberg is the chosen one and Stonehenge is a portal to something. I was lost!

One of the disappointing aspects is visually it seemed a little lazy, which usually that’s at least something Bay gets right. I felt a little nauseated because the aspect ratio on the screen kept changing A LOT and the way it was edited left my stomach upset. There was a car chase in particular that turned my stomach a bit. The transformers look good and there wasn’t any that were annoying like in 2 or 4 but you don’t really spend enough time with any of them (or any other character) to be pleased or annoyed.

The humor also doesn’t really work. I particularly didn’t like a group of ladies who exist solely to make fun of the lead girl’s dating life. I’m not sure why that is funny? Like literally they sit around her apartment just to comment on how lame her love life is. What?  There is also a robot butler that wasn’t very funny.  They even try to go all meta with him and the music in one scene but it was more annoying than funny. They make a lot of UK jokes but it didn’t make me laugh much.

All that said, if you like this franchise then you will like this movie. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t then you probably won’t. I feel like it could have done something crazy and fun with transformers fighting Nazis and King Arthur but sadly it was not to be. Oh well.

Overall Grade- D+

Dreamworks 6: Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

| Rachel's Reviews

If you have been reading this blog for some time you know I am not often a fan of Dreamworks comedies. The parody style of humor just isn’t my thing. However, every once in a while they produce a Mr Peabody and Sherman that I do like, so I always go in with an open mind (why waste my time if I decide ahead of the movie I’m not going to like it?). Fortunately, their newest film Captain Underpants: the First Epic Movie is such a welcome surprise. It is not only very funny but extremely creative in the animation to boot.

One of the things that makes Captain Underpants special is it was made for a micro-budget of only $38 million! Dreamworks outsourced the film to a separate studio called Mikros Images in Canada as kind of an experiment in more manageable movie-making.  This smaller budget forced the team to be creative with the animation and storytelling and it shows. They even joke about it once during an action scene where the narrator says ‘this would have been very expensive but here’s what would have happened!” LOL.

I was so impressed by the way the movie uses different types of animation to tell the story. It is of course based on the popular books by Dav Pilkey but this isn’t just made for the fans of the books. The main animation has a flat yet 3D effect similar to what we saw from Blue Sky in The Peanuts Movie (an underrated film if you ask me!), but the film doesn’t stop there. It incorporates 2D animation, both sketch and traditional styles, and even has a live action sock puppet sequence! These choices weren’t merely gimmicks but kept the movie feeling fresh and surprising.

The other strength of Captain Underpants is how funny it is. Nicholas Stoller who wrote The Muppets and Storks has upped his game making a hilarious script. It does have a lot of toilet humor and normally I hate that but for whatever reason in this film I laughed. I’ve even seen it twice and both times I’ve laughed (sometimes more than the kids around me. True story!).  I think part of it is the movie goes for broke not holding back. They even have a character named Professor Poopypants and it consistently made me laugh.

I think it also helps that the two lead boys Harold and George are so likable and charming. They have big smiles and all the pranks and silliness they do is to make the kids at their terrible school happy. I loved the creativity of the boys and that they were designing their own comic books and stories. This is a good example for kids who spend too much time consuming entertainment and not creating their own art.

I loved that the two boys were effortlessly diverse- meaning you had a black and white kid and it did not matter at all. It was never mentioned or made a plot point.  They were just friends as they should be. It was also very funny that the greatest trauma in their lives is getting put in separate classes. I remember as a kid anxiously waiting to find out if my friends would be in the same class as me. Harold says “long distance relationships never work out” LOL.

It’s interesting because out of all the characters Captain Underpants is probably the most forgettable part. He is part strict principal and part superhero, which is fun, but he mainly serves as a touch-point for the boys to react off of. I liked the boys so much I was kind of glad they were the main focus.

I really only have 2 small complaints about Captain Underpants. The first is I wish they had used children as the voice actors. Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch are fine (Ed Helms as Captain Underpants) but it would have been more immersive if they sounded like children.

In the next movie it would be nice to get to know some of the other kids (you do meet  tattle-tale Melvin voiced by Jordan Peele). Again to use The Peanuts Movie as an example, we get to meet more than just Charlie Brown and Snoopy but the whole gang instead.  Hopefully there will be a Second Epic Movie because I really enjoyed this introduction!

Captain Underpants: the First Epic Movie is made for children. It doesn’t have the winking adults-only humor that I hate in animation. It’s humor for kids but it still made me chuckle. The animation is surprising and inventive and the friendship of the boys gives the whole project heart. Check it out and support this new style of filmmaking from Dreamworks!

Oh and the Weird Al theme song is great!

Overall Grade- A-

Wonder Woman Review

| Rachel's Reviews

It’s always hard to write about movies I love. There’s a feeling that my opinion won’t be taken seriously or will be regarded as hyperbole. And for a movie I really love it can feel like throwing pearls before swine. Obviously that isn’t the case as you, my readers, are amazing and know me well enough that I do not rubber stamp movies or give any franchise a pass. When I say I love a movie it is because it is deserved.

All that said- I LOVE Wonder Woman. And it’s not just because it’s the best DCEU film. And it’s not because it is the first decent female led superhero movie (although I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a little meaningful to me). It’s because it spoke to me on an emotional level and entertained me in every way I can think of.

You could make the case that Wonder Woman follows a traditional origin story formula and I would agree with you but much like Moana it executes that formula so well. In both films, I deeply care about the characters and their journey.However, as much as I love Moana, Wonder Woman is even better. I just loved it so much.

The story is pretty simple and comes right from the comic books. Wonder Woman is Diana who is raised on the island of Themyscira among the all-female Amazons. She is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and was created out of clay by her mother and Zeus. One day a soldier named Steve Trevor lands on their beach and Diana decides to become involved in World War 1 and try to save the people. Updating the conflict from World War 2 to World War 1 was very smart as the senselessness of World War 1 is far more obvious. Plus, you have the horrors of nerve gas and trench warfare in World War 1 to put as a backdrop.

I won’t tell you any more so you can experience it yourself but the key to this film working is Diana and Steve. Gal Gadot is effervescent, innocent and wonderful as Wonder Woman and Chris Pine is perfect as Steve. The two have incredible chemistry, and I really cared about them and their stories. This is not a film that empowers women at the expense of men. They are both needed and valued and their love is what is powerful. All love is powerful.

The journey Wonder Woman goes on puts it above most other superhero movies I’ve seen. She learns about not only the cost of war but the ease at which humans excuse that cost as nothing. I cried a lot both times when watching the film because I found her realization of human evil to be incredibly moving.

A lot of people criticize some superhero movies for having a lack of stakes. Not the case here. No spoilers but there is a price to pay for fighting evil and here it couldn’t be more devastating. And the resolution is far from tidy but more of a momentary breath and pause before we know mankind will succumb again to the worst in their nature.

You see the true villain in Wonder Woman is war itself and the corruptible nature of mankind that so often embraces it. Some have said Wonder Woman feels like a Marvel movie instead of a DC movie. Never mind the many DC movies that were far sillier than this (cough Green Lantern cough) but I think they are missing the point. Previous DCEU films like Batman v Superman are built on a traditional masculine energy and style of filmmaking. With Wonder Woman we get something entirely different. There is more of a traditional feminine energy to it. It is about emotions and relationships and that is why it is so moving. Even when it gets bombastic it does so because of despair and love.

That’s not to say Wonder Woman isn’t fun. It does have comedic moments to lighten the mood and those work as well. There’s also great action that will satisfy the action gurus of your group but again what was special to me is the emotional journey of a woman facing the horrors of war.

I really only have 2 tiny nitpicks with Wonder Woman. The accents on Themyscira are a little cheesy. I understand why they did it to match Gadot’s Israeli accent but it doesn’t quite work. They also use a slow motion effect in the action scenes a little bit too much. There is a villain reveal that could have been handled better but since the true villain was war itself I did not care. Aside from that, I thought Wonder Woman was spectacular.

I won’t give a ranking just yet but it is definitely one of my favorite superhero movies I’ve ever seen. Congrats to Patty Jenkins and everyone involved for finally giving me a blockbuster I actually cared about!  Thank you!

And thank you for giving little girls the superhero they should have had a long time ago

Overall Grade- A

For parents there is some war violence that might be concerning and some nudity/sensuality.

Everything, Everything Review

| Rachel's Reviews

I’ll just say it- I love a good romance movie and we don’t get that many satisfying ones these days. Most are either of the 50 Shades/Unforgettable variety or the Nicholas Sparksian mold. It is with this in mind that I share with you my positive response to the recent teen romance- Everything, Everything. My niece loved the book and while I haven’t read it yet I intend to because I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

A movie like this depends largely on the chemistry of the lead couple and the believability of their journey together. In Everything, Everything Amandla Stenberg stars as Maddy a young girl with an autoimmune disease that forces to stay inside her house all the time. One day she meets through the window her next door neighbor Olly played by Nick Robinson and they become friends.

The film is very clever with how it stages their initial interactions. Of course, it is texts and emails but it feels intimate and real and the two actors have terrific chemistry. Director Stella Meghie did a great job staging the interactions in an authentic way and the screenplay avoids too much melodrama.

I kept waiting for the story to go off the rails with an evil person thwarting young love or a dramatic cancer diagnosis but it was more subtle than that. I am sure some critics will say it is predictable and cheesy but I think it could have gone way more off the rails many times. It worked for me.

The only real flaw I had with it was one character gets off the hook a little too easily but that wasn’t a huge problem. I also appreciate that them being a mixed race couple wasn’t brought up once. They were just teens in love, as it should be.

There isn’t much else to say except I really liked it. Great chemistry, well shot and the emotional manipulation feels very gentle for this kind of movie. I think if women go with their girlfriends they will have a great time. My friend who went with me had a great time also so it’s not just me.

Overall Grade- B+

As far as content there is one scene of sensuality but it is pretty tame.

Here is my youtube review

Fate of the Furious Review

| Rachel's Reviews

In Furious 7 there is a scene where Hobbs announces he is leaving the hospital and he focuses on his broken arm until the cast falls off in pieces. There was never a moment that campy and fun in Fate of the Furious.

In Furious 7 there is a moment where we see Brian and he waves and drives into the distance. There was never a moment with such heart in Fate of the Furious.

You get the idea. This film was a significant step down from the previous 3 films.

It’s not like I am expecting Shakespeare in Fast and the Furious. I know it will be stupid stunts and lots of talk about family. My main problem with this movie is it wasn’t enough stupid stunts or talking about family.

The first big mistake they make is splitting off Dom from the family. He is manipulated by Charlize Theron’s character and it did not work having Dom as this quasi-villain for most of the film. Dom is the core of the team. He brings everyone together and reminds them of what is important. Without him I didn’t care as much about the characters. And I thought Charlize Theron was a complete miss as a villain- extremely flat and boring.

The second big mistake is way too much talking and staring at screens. There were so many scenes of characters scheming and planning and staring at screens. I have no idea why action movies think this is a good idea. We saw it last year with Jason Bourne which was even worse. In a Mission Impossible movie or good James Bond we don’t see him staring at screens talking about hacking and plans for long stretches. We seem very little planning and lots of butt kicking. That’s what we want!

One of the big action scenes is mostly people staring at screens because it involves unmanned cars. At one point it is literally raining cars, which with no people is  boring. I honestly got kind of drowsy during sections of this movie- something I never thought I would say about a Fast and Furious movie. Even Tokyo Drift wasn’t exactly boring.

The ending starts to get wacky and fun with them chasing a submarine but it wasn’t as enjoyable as it would have been if the entire movie had been that kinetic fun tone. Instead, it felt like a reminder of the kind of movie I wish I had gotten all along.

My favorite scene in the movie was when Jason Statham’s character has to protect a baby. This was funny and tense, which is just what I want from this franchise. He also has some funny dialogue with Helen Mirren (who is underused but funny in few scenes she’s in).

In the future it seems like we may want to get back to the drawing board of what made 5, 6 and 7 so much fun. This entry unfortunately wasn’t.

Overall Grade- C-

The Lost City of Z Review

| Rachel's Reviews

There are some movies I feel bad for giving a negative review to. In a world of bland board meeting films I especially want to love passion projects and movies where all involved had ambition and a grand scope. However, that ambition can only get you so far and the movie has to be able to stand on its own. James Gray’s recent The Lost City of Z is such an ambitious miss and it pains me to say it. There is a lot of good but in the end I can’t recommend it mostly because of the poor script that let’s the whole movie down.

The Lost City of Z is based on a book about a man named Percy Fawcett who at the turn of century led several expeditions in Bolivia to find the  ancient Lost City of Z. This might sound exciting but in truth this film is more like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre than an exciting exploration movie. You might also be able to compare it to the Revenant in the way it explores the harshness of another climate and culture. However, both Sierra Madre and the Revenant have something Lost City of Z does not have- a concise narrative and compelling script (especially Sierra Madre which has a masterful script).

In Lost City of Z we get the entire life of Percy Fawcett. This not only makes the movie very long but also quite sprawling in nature. We get 3 expeditions and a long war sequence wedged in between. If the movie decided to focus on one of these expeditions it would have been so much better. It would have had a clear goal and the accompanying challenges, heroes, villains, etc.  Here it seems like every time the movie gets momentum you are back in London, or off to war, and then back again to the Amazon.

It’s the same way with the characters. Sienna Miller is good as Fawcett’s wife but we see her so intermittently that she basically becomes a ‘ra ra’ character for him. Robert Pattinson is good as his first mate but the script doesn’t really allow us to get to know him either. At one point in the story they are starving and we see suffering but I was left asking questions- why did they not bring enough food, what happened to the food, why did they not fish or hunt, what exactly are they looking for etc. If I was more invested in the characters than I wouldn’t have been asking those questions.

I also thought the dialogue was very clunky. Charlie Hunnam tries his darnedest but he always felt like he was giving speeches not talking like an actual person. There is one scene where he argues with his wife about her coming on the expedition that felt real and human. (Sadly that is undermined by it coming out of nowhere for her character). Aside from that, everything he said just felt so wooden and clunky to me.

For example, towards the end he has a chance to say something emotional and meaningful to his son (Tom Holland). Instead of sharing a memory or a personal story of his life he says something like ‘we’ve got to fight on until the end because we are explorers’.  It was stale when it should have been raw and emotional.

I know I have been very tough on this movie- probably more so than it deserves, but it has so much potential it is frustrating. I honestly think if the script had gotten a few more run-throughs and was made a little bit better it could have been one of the best of the year. As it is, it is an ambitious miss.

Overall Grade- C

Colossal Review

| Rachel's Reviews

** Some that are very spoiler sensitive might find spoilers below but I tried to keep it clean

2016 seemed to be the year that original indie films didn’t work for me. Movies like Swiss Army Man and The Lobster that others loved I found repetitive and frustrating. So, it was with a little trepidation I went to see the latest creative ‘science fiction comedy’ Colossal (which btw is a hard word to spell…). While it is admittedly uneven, I walked out having enjoyed myself and can recommend the film.

I don’t want to spoil anything in the movie so I will just tell you the basic premise. Anne Hathaway plays an alcoholic who is dumped by her boyfriend played by Dan Stevens. When she goes back to her hometown she meets old friend Jason Sudeikis and realizes she has a connection with a monster or kaiju that appears in Seoul Korea. For example, when she scratches her head or bends over etc so does the monster.

There are a lot of positives in Colossal. First of all, Anne Hathaway is great in the lead role. She has to play a lot of notes as Gloria and she pulls them off well. I also liked Dan Stevens as the boyfriend who can’t take living with the alcoholic any more. Jason Sudeikis is ok. He starts out great and then his character kind of goes off the rails in ways I didn’t care for but as an actor he is ok.The movie also says a lot (maybe too much) and I feel like it is one I could watch several times and get new things out of. It has something to say about bullying, toxic masculinity, addiction, technology, communication, news, our worldwide connectiveness etc. I liked that Gloria has a messy life and even when she has turned things around she still is kind of a mess. That felt real to life.

Colossal looks great with convincing special effects and cinematography. It had a real sense of place. Everything is always gray and cold and it just suits the story. The designs of the kaiju looked terrific especially on an indie movie budget. It reminded me a little bit of Gremlins in the feel and style of the creatures.

All that said, there are some negatives. For about 20 minutes the movie goes into ‘creepy stalker guy’ material that felt right out of a generic horror movie. This made me roll my eyes and was disappointing because everything else had been so creative.

Also I’m not really sure what the movie is trying to say about addiction? Gloria overcomes her addiction pretty quickly and makes some decisions that seemed completely out of left field. For example, she starts up a relationship with someone that made no sense and I didn’t understand what the movie was trying to say with that? Is the kaiju symbolic of addiction? I think it can be symbolic of many things but it got a little muddled.

Some people have had issues with the ending. I didn’t mind the ending because I felt it got out of the lame creepy stalker horror movie section that I didn’t like. It was back to the weird scifi stuff I do like. I found her solution to be innovative and clever. It worked for me.

Overall, Colossal has some problems but it is still entertaining and worth a watch. I’d be interested to see more from director Nacho Vigalondo as it showed a lot of potential for someone who has mostly done shorts up to this point (the shorts before the movie were terrible btw).

Have any of you seen Colossal? What did you think? What do you think it was trying to say and what messages did you take from it? Share in the comments section. Thanks!

As far as content it is rated R for language and it is on the mild side I’d say.

Overall Grade- B