Member review

Monsters is a British Sci-fi film that was written and directed by Gareth Edwards and distributed by the London based Vertigo Films. This was the first feature film he directed after he won an award for short film he made around 10 years ago, Edwards was recognised by multinational companies such as Legendary and Lucasfilm which allowed him to direct the first movie of Legendarys’ ‘Monsterverse’ (the film being Godzilla) and Rogue 1 as part of the Star Wars franchise. I love these movies a lot and I really enjoy watching them.

More on Monsters, the movie begins with a lot of background knowledge you’ll need to know to understand the plot. It mentions the monsters being extra-terrestrial lifeforms which sets the backdrop to a very awkward love story. It also has a few Easter Eggs and references to the wider universe the film is set in, the movie was also referenced in Rogue One!

The movie was made on a low budget of around £15,000 says Edwards himself which is astonishing to think as it looks visually better than Pacific Rim which had an unimaginably high budget of $180 Million! This shows that Edwards certainly knows how to make his way around a movie. Along with the budget the film was made with a small crew and only 2 paid actors which slightly disappoints me as Godzilla could’ve been so much better than it already is. The 2 main actors (McNairy and Able) did not work with a 100% complete script, the majority of the movie has improvised lines which show the talent of the actors which is also reflected in the chemistry the pair have as they are a couple in real life; this makes the movie seem more realistic to watch. Monsters doesn’t have a full score to go along with it but certain scenes are a complimented by Mexican sounds songs, because the movie is set in and around Mexico (where the Infected Zone is).

To summarise this movie, monsters is a mash up between post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi’s along the lines of District 9, War of the Worlds and even hits of Jurassic Park. The films love story plot is the main focus but quite stereotypical.. Man tries to get with a girl. This does come with a few complications as you’d likely expect. I feel that the movie is very underrated, Edwards combines some brilliant key skills of film making along with a strong storyline set to the background of an alien invasion, like many movies, the big reveal is left to the end (unlike in Kong Skull Island) where we finally see the Monsters beside a gas station along with the 2 main characters (which contrast here with differing emotions), this is probably the best scene in the movie as the visuals are amazing and has such a calm score it along with some good interactions, Pathetic Fallacy is used here to create a greater atmosphere. Unfortunately Monsters does lack in action scenes like you would expect in a sci-fi, but strangely in okay with it and I feel many other people who were to watch this movie would agree with me. Overall, I would give this movie at least an 8/10 just down to the lack of action and spontaneous production, but a whole lot better than its sequel (NOT directed by Edwards).