Colossal [DVD]

This movie is dark. This is amplified by the preview indicating a light, quirky, odd Sci Fi, fantasy atmosphere.The acting is good from the leads and supports.Sudeikis was also a surprise as he's downright scary with a "mild mannered threat and intensity" reminiscent of Hugo Weaving in The Matrix and V for Vendetta (with Sudeikis' similar looks and the way Weaving's characters treated both Reaves' and Portman's characters). F'ing creepy!Perhaps the producers wanted both the script and the inaccurate preview to work together for the misdirection.The actual cause of the mystism isn't really addressed although the "why of it" is touched on. Usually I find this "use your own imagination" type movie making to be lazy on the screenwriter's part. Here, I'm thankful that I didn't have to hit fast forward as the mystism quickly became not central to the movie. So, it's nice that the film doesn't get sidetracked exploring that and stays with the one main storyline.The ending is also conclusive while still leaving the gritty details up to your imagination and the loose ends are mostly tied up. I want to say the whole thing is a more odd than satisfying package. However, so many movies these days just hang up a "the end" sign and roll credits when the screenwriter hit the deadline and the producer didn't hold them accountable for crafting an actual ending. I feel it's worth mentioning that the ending does actually close the movie and doesn't leave the viewer asking themselves much of "what about such and such?!"The way this movie gets dark and creepy-weird so quickly, I was just glad to get to the end fairly quickly, without having to fast forward, and with loose ends mostly closed.I gave 3 stars because the movie was OK with the odd script but solid acting and an interesting premise. However, I don't like being lied to or misled and that's exactly what the preview did. Again, that may have been intentional to amplify the script instead of just bad rude marketing.It went by fairly quickly but didn't hold my interest to the point that I ended up watching over 2 nights with the intermission basically at the point where it got dark. Dark wasn't the kind of movie I was in the mood for.SPOILER ALERT!The film also depicts alcohol abuse and physical violence against a woman. There isn't any gore, though. It's a movie, make believe, but some people might be offended by that or offended by the fact that the preview didn't indicate such.

The concept behind this movie is genius. Anne Hathaway is adrift in life when she realizes that she manifests as a giant monster in South Korea that smashes things. What turns out to be better are the characters. Jason Sudeikis is Hathaway’s childhood friend who gets some great monologues that turns to psychosis. Tim Blake Nelson is a regular at Sudeikis’ bar who often spaces out and just starts rambling through stories. Hathaway has to find out what’s wrong in her life before she can tackle her monster self. It makes for a pretty unique film.

The premise had me expecting a goofy comedy, and to be fair there was quite a bit of that... but it also got progressively darker and more uncomfortable as it went. Fasten your seatbelts.The "R" rating was well deserved, and it's not from nudity or raunchy humor.Great acting all around.

I am a fan of Godzilla and King Kong and films of that ilk.  I had wanted to see “Colossal” when it hit the theaters but I missed it.  My wife surprised me on a date day when she had bought the movie and cued it up.  I knew to expect a quirky kaiju film starring a cute and possibly rambunctious Anne Hathaway and I suspected that the film’s monsters were going to be a metaphor of some sort and that it would be funny even if it tried to play up strong dramatic elements.  Well, kinda got some of this. What I was surprised by was how mean Colossal gets.  That’s not to say that the film is mean, but Jason Sudekis’ character, Oscar, is a sonuva and more.  We can all be small of heart, act petty, even occasionally cruel.  Some of us can even be downright mean.  But Oscar is something more, something beyond psychopathic.  He’s a warped shell where the trauma of feeling powerless traps and warps some people into something malevolent, a seething rage that wants to burn down everything it touches while it enjoys the pained consumption.  Anne Hathaway plays Gloria, an alcoholic who returns to her hometown after failing at finding a job and keeping her relationship.  Back in town she meets Oscar who was an old schoolmate of hers.  Oscar accepts her and is great to her and gives her a job at his bar that he’s partially renovated and shares his friends with her, his friends who are like satellites around him, who are under his control.  Oscar has a special place in his heart for Gloria but her romantic inclinations just aren’t blowing his way.  As all of this is happening an impossible world-shaking event is occurring: a monster is materializing in Seoul, South Korea, and wreaking havoc.  And Gloria is linked to it.  And so is Oscar.  I won’t ruin just how or why here but the film moves along into troubling waters with Oscar exposing a vicious, controlling, and abusive persona that is starkly in contrast with how he was initially presented.  He becomes downright sinister and his warped world revolves around controlling Gloria and making her monster continue to appear is Seoul.  Both Gloria and Oscar are alcoholics but their colliding worlds are much bigger than their addiction. While Gloria’s monster causes her to become a bigger person, Oscar’s giant robot causes his heart to grow even smaller and more blackened.  The beasties can be seen as various metaphors for alcoholism, addiction, childhood trauma, powerlessness, and more.  Pick your poison; the movie gives you a bit to play with.  The allegory of the movie may be as simple as “inside us all there lurk monsters who are ruinous in their powers and in their passions” or it could be something else entirely, I’m really not sure.  But this could be a good movie for friends, especially those in their late teens and early twenties, to sit around and talk about after they watch it…and then to eye each other as they keep downing their bourbon and beer as they wonder how close to the story they might actually be…. As far as Hathaway’s character being rambunctious and cute, well, not so much.  She’s a little haggard and rough around the edges.  She’s not playing a cutesy comedy part and “Colossal”, while it may have a few chuckles here and there, is not a comedy.  Not even close.  Not even close.  It’s rated R for good reasons (opposite to at least one other reviewer’s comments) the least being f-bombs dropped every ten words and thematic elements involving alcohol and drug abuse but mostly for the misogynistic emotional and sometimes physical violence perpetrated against Gloria.  This is not a movie for thirteen-year-olds.  It’s for adults.  And it’s making some statements about some important issues in a pretty creative way.  3.5 stars.

An interesting and emotional twist on the Kaiju genre. Wonderfully written, and powerful performances, in such an unexpected package. Don’t expect a ton of rampaging monsters, or non-stop action, but I do believe you won’t be disappointed.

Kind of an odd science-fiction sort of movie - I guess you have to call it Sci Fi not fantasy although no explanation is ever given as to how this effect came about. Anyhow Anne Hathaway was fantastic in The Devil Wears Prada. This movie is not of the same quality as that one. Go in with very low expectations and maybe you will enjoy it.

I just don't seem to have much luck in buying Blu-ray films of late and this is just another example of mutton dressed as lamb.There may have been some psychological reasons why Anne Hathaway realised so impossibly quickly that there was some degree of connection between her and the monster attacking Seoul. For me it was simply a case of a very weak plot expressed in an incredibly stupid script. On the front of the Bly-ray case are the words, "THRILLING,,, HATHAWAY is OUTSTANDING". Outstanding as what exactly?I tried advancing quickly through this dross but nothing much changed and so I must once again curse myself for wasting my money on a total load of rubbish. This is going in the bin tonight, only 3 hours after it was delivered.My advice, don't touch it with a barge pole.

Great movie. If I'd seen it last year it would have easily made my 10 Best Films of 2017 list. It's rare to see a truly original film take you by surprise.While it may appear to be a riff on standard monster movies, homaging Godzilla in particular, if you're expecting a Roland Enmerich style disaster film you will be disappointed. It's much more an indie film in spirit, sort of Beautiful Girls but if Uma Thurman had changed into a giant monster every morning.Anne Hathaway is great as the alcoholic failure who returns home to sort out her life and bumps into an old school friend. To say any more would be to spoil the surprises and the less you know going in, the better.

A really interesting concept, which didn't get much publicity. I really enjoyed the film and the change in tone as the story progressed was unexpected and enjoyable. Definitely recommended for people who enjoy a good monster movie, although it isn't very typical.

This entertaining concept turned darker and nastier than I expected, and rather made light of horrific death and destruction in Korea. Without spoilers, hard to say why turned against the film in the second half, but the relationship dynamics are far from amusing.

Bought as a surprise stocking filler for my OH after we missed it in the cinema. This movie is a real surprise. Funny, clever, humane and not at all what I expected of a giant monster movie! We both loved and have since recommended it to all our friends.