Colossal - movie review

Colossal
Plot: Gloria is an out-of-work party girl forced to leave her life in New York City, and move back home. When reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, she gradually comes to the realisation that she is somehow connected to this phenomenon.
Cast: Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Stevens
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Certificate: 15 (strong language)
Runtime: 1hr 49 mins
Release Date: Friday 19th May 2017

Now and again I'll stray into the world of indie cinema in order to clear my head from all of the high budget blockbusters that are crammed into the summer season in the hope of finding something fresh, original and hopefully, terrific smaller films. Colossal seemed like it could have been the answer. Alas, it falls into the bracket of indie films that simply didn't hit all the sweet spots it needed to. It follows Gloria (Hathaway) who, after breaking up with her boyfriend (Stevens), returns to her childhood town only to discover she begins to share an abnormal link to a monster wreaking havoc in Seoul.

Hundreds of people may have died but DAMN that monster have moves!

What Colossal does brilliantly, and for that matter director Vigalondo, is get some truly fantastic performances out of its cast. I was initially sceptical of Anne Hathaway portraying a convincing alcoholic seeing how she always seems like such a likeable person however, aside from the drunken rambles which felt a tad overacted, she nails the emotional aspect of Gloria. Her ambition to get her life back on track, trying to mend relationships and friendships and oh, also come to terms that her moves shadow that of a Kaiju stomping through the South Korean capital, are strongly portrayed. There are elements to Colossal that I enjoyed and believe that, if the film continued with that predetermined tone, it might have had a more fortuitous reception from myself. It's a tale of two halves. As well as focusing on Gloria and her drink dependency, Colossal is also, as advertised, partly a monster movie. At times, the two blend well together. At others, it doesn't in the slightest. Both tones are as different as chalk and cheese. When we do encounter the monster action, Colossal is intriguing and provides a fresh take on a genre that usually has much larger stakes and a considerably higher budget. Whereas those films pride themselves on the grand action that monster movies are known for, Colossal poses the question about the destruction caused in those scenarios both structurally and the human cost. Whenever those scenes were playing, I was interested in this new spin on the topic but never compelled. Apart from its inability to balance the two heavily contrasting tones, Colossal has a major issue regarding pace. For at least the first half an hour or so, the plot doesn't go anywhere. It basically consists of Anne Hathaway getting drunk and moaning about her life with Jason Sudeikis and his pals. That would have been cool if the dialogue had been witty and smart but it was as plain and bland as any generic drunk ramble from the movies. When the monster sequences do take place, and believe me that they are few and far between, they are surprisingly entertaining as we watch a giant creature initially and incidentally lay waste to Seoul and then, through a secretive series of events, protect it. For a budget that wouldn't even cover the creation of Godzilla's toe, the effects in Colossal are very impressive.

Hands up if you want another Oscar.

FACT: Anne Hathaway was in the second trimester of her pregnancy while filming the movie.

The second half of the film is where Colossal is likely to win over or lose many of its audience. In its initial first half, very little happens towards the development of characters nor a real and worthwhile progress to the plot. As the second half rears its head, Colossal begins to subdue the monster movie aspect and heighten the human relationships to an unexpected degree. Now, Colossal has been widely publicised as the weirdest movie this year and whilst I can concur that there is certainly not a film like it, it's quite a statement to say it's weird and strange. Swiss Army Man was weird. Raw was a very unorthodox movie. In my personal opinion, I think Colossal was holding too much back and didn't even begin to scratch the surface of what I deem to be weird. Sure, a woman who's, in a nutshell, shadow is a gigantic monster, is different but not exactly mind-bogglingly crazy. What was unexpected regarding this film is an incredibly interesting performance by Jason Sudeikis. Considering his career has mostly relied on his fantastic comedy skills, his performance in Colossal has thrown his comedic talents to one side as he delivers a very hurt and real performance that is unlike anything he's done before. It just goes to show that those comedians who continually make us laugh can pull out all of the stops when given a drama to tackle with. Dan Stevens does an admirable job with the role that he's given which is, unfortunately, a fairly basic and typical role of a concerned boyfriend. Even Tim Blake Nelson, who is always one of the best actors no matter what film he's in, has some great moments but he too is given hardly any screen time. It also happens to be that a surprising reveal about a character could make or break this movie for many. It's a shocking twist that supplies some deeply unsettling character motivations. I thought it was daring and a bold choice to make from a writing perspective alas, it results in an even more wildly inconsistent tone as we joke and laugh about drunken antics, mourn the loss of life in Seoul and then recoil in horror as a character's true personality come to light. Let's put this simply; the monster storyline is a corned beef sandwich, the Anne Hathaway drunkard storyline is a ham sandwich​ and the unexpected character twist storyline is a peanut butter sandwich. All of these sandwiches, alone, taste fine but when smudged together, it's a confusing and messy concoction.

She was beginning to regret those final five pints.

Despite not being afraid to go to some levels that mainstream films would avoid, Colossal is by no means as weird as some reviews suggest and its conflicting tones and plotlines result in its eventual downfall. It does contain some truly remarkable performances from Hathaway and especially Sudeikis but even they can't help a multitude of plots that never work to their full potential on their own, let alone together.

My Verdict: 5.5/10

What did you think of Colossal? What is a movie everyone else found weird but you thought was normal? Sound off in the comments below.

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