Reviews Film / Colossal

A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing

Colossal turns out to be a bit of a carnival barker scam. I remember seeing the trailer a few years back and being intrigued by its comedic premise, in which a drunk woman discovers her body is linked to a Godzilla-sized monster that's terrorising Seoul. I forgot to watch the movie (and apparently so did everyone else), but had I paid for a movie ticket, I might have been a lot harsher on this movie than I am now, watching it for free on netflix.

The trailer lied. Yes there is a monster that is linked to Anne Hathaway's character, but it isn't central to the story or even appears all that often. In reality, Colossal is a mumblecore drama that mostly consists of sad adults in bars, trying to work through crippling addictions and toxic relationships. When its not just serving as glitter for the trailers, the monster stuff is meant to be a metaphor for the careless destruction we visit on others via the above issues. Fine, but the metaphor kind of gets confused towards the end when Hathaway attempts to use her destructive monster powers for good; is the movie now telling us that drunkenness and spousal abuse can be used for good? Whilst not explaining what is going on, the movie does eventually show you how this monster/human link was made in the first place - it might have been to the movie's benefit to not bother, and leave it a complete mystery.

The movie is okay, albeit slightly boring. The movie alternates between three locations for most of its run time (a playground, an empty house, a bar), and I got sick of the sight of them. I don't need a dancing kaiju to keep me entertained for a whole movie, but I need something in its place! The subject matter is a bit of a downer as well, especially when cracking open your third drink just as the movie starts.