Colossal (2016) Review

 

Colossal (2016)

Colossal follows Gloria, who, after her boyfriend kicks her out, moves back to her hometown, only for a monster to concurrently begin attacking Seoul, South Korea at the same time everyday, leading Gloria to notice that her and this monster are somehow connected. 

I feel like all too often, we clamor for movies that are original, instead of the same reused garbage over and over again. Colossal, despite my inability to find any point in it, is exactly the original idea people have been longing for, whether it lands though is a completely different thing. You could probably tune into this movie at any given point and never once know what you were watching, and I think that’s part of it’s charm. The way is balances outright comedy, kaiju’s, and some unbelievably dark subject matter is astonishing because never once is it expected (certainly not from Jason Sudeikis).

On the outset, it’s nothing more than a dark comedy with some heavy narrative drama thrown in for good measure. In reality however, it’s more a fantasy, sci-fi parable about the destructive nature of alcoholism, the acceptance of responsibility and taking control of one’s life, with random observations about the detached manner in which international disasters are viewed by the masses. We, as a public, are disenfranchised and unfazed to a degree because for most of our lives, that’s all we’ve known. We’re used to violence, tragedy, and loss and so when a monster starts attacking South Korea, we’re amazed and terrified at first, but that soon, like all things, washes away into normality.

We get a shockingly great cast too, starring Dan Stevens, Tim Blake Nelson, Austin Stowell, Jason Sudeikis, and Anne Hathaway. I was rather impressed with this film’s ability to turn Anne Hathaway into a genuinely likable and funny person, with hints of trauma and abuse, that, when paired with the completely unexpected and supremely dark performance from Sudeikis, is really what gives this flick some legs, even if it is a bit all over the place. 

Colossal, directed by Nacho Vigalondo (though it very well could’ve been Jim Jarmusch), is a hilarious morality tale about emotions, self confidence, and bad life decisions that brilliantly uses monsters as an avenue for the demons we hold inside, often being a display of one’s true character. 

7.3/10