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Monsters (2010)

One of the most talked about films of 2010 was Monsters directed by documentary film-maker Gareth Edwards. His debut feature is set six months after a NASA probe carrying samples of extraterrestrial life has crash-landed in Central America. These alien samples then mutated into giant ‘creatures’ causing half of Mexico to be quarantined for fear of the ‘infection’ spreading. The story itself focuses on two characters, Andrew Calder, a young photographer trying to capture images of the destruction the creatures have caused, and Samantha Wyler, the daughter of Calder’s boss. In a frantic telephone call Andrew is instructed to help get Samantha through the infected zone and to the USA. While at the beginning they’re strangers to each other, along their torturous journey a relationship starts to form.

It’s worth pointing out that in every review of Monsters there’s at least one mention of the film’s budget (and this review is no different). Apparently, the film cost half a million dollars and its effects were completed by Edwards on his home computer. To be fair this is an astonishing achievement and the film certainly has the scale of a Hollywood production with a much larger accounting sheet. Yet I feel the (well-deserved) praise for this has also being used to hide any faults the film may have. Personally I can’t see what the cost of the film has to do with how much an audience can enjoy it. If Michael Bay turned out a film that did cost less than Wesley Snipes tax bill to make, I still probably wouldn’t enjoy it any more than I did Transformers 2 (for the record, I would rather flay my skin off with the rough edge of a coconut than sit through that again).

However, it’s clear that those budgetary restrictions have pushed the film in a certain direction. The Monsters of the title are conspicuous by their absence. This subtle trick that worked so well for Jaws (1975) when they couldn’t get the shark to float, doesn’t feel as successful for Monsters. It’s possible this is due to the film being centered on the relationship between Andrew and Samantha, and can only work if the audience feels for their plight. This is an interesting premise, but it’s hampered by Edwards demonstrating his documentary roots and deciding against scripting the dialogue. This free-form jazz approach to words may be suitable for the council estate setting of a Mike Leigh film, but here it feels out of place. Occasionally it even creates odd moments. For example in one scene the travelling duo have left a boat and are meeting some people in a forest clearing. There’s a loud unearthly noise from the undergrowth and Andrew surprisingly responds with, ‘What the hell was that?’ Well, I’m no boffin but perhaps it might be one of those aliens that have been all over the news, all the time, constantly.

I can see what Edwards was trying to achieve. In a recent radio interview he claimed that the dialogue is naturalistic because people don’t speak in most films the way they do in real life, and he wanted to change that. He’s right, genre movie speak isn’t natural, it’s often succinct, witty, interesting, quotable, and pushes the film in a certain direction. What it doesn’t do is meander along with no direction, or yank a scene to a crashing halt, which is what often happens in Monsters. Without that verbal spark you’re left watching two dull people on a trekking holiday.

Finally, in a film that seems determined to deny that it is a ‘genre’ movie, the concluding scenes feel like the director couldn’t resist aping those Hollywood epics he had previously sought to dismiss. It feels more like a loss of conviction from the director. Perhaps this is why the film seems to struggle for me as it seems schizophrenic in deciding what kind of film it wants to be. Is it a monster movie or a love story? Audiences seeking either may be ultimately disappointed as it falls somewhere between the two.

This is not to say that Monsters doesn’t have its good points. The creatures themselves (when seen) are fantastic, and it’s obvious that Edwards is a director to look out for in the future. With a script that contained tighter dialogue and a clear idea of what type of film it was supposed to be it may have been more enjoyable. At the end of the day though, in cinema terms it cost next to nothing to make, so that makes it good.

Monsters is released on Blu-ray / DVD in the USA on 1st February, and in the UK on 18th April