Director: Nacho Vigalondo
By Alex Watson
An original and amusing premise, it is a shame that Nacho Vigalando doesn't expand more on the silly side of Colossal. While on the one hand, it's a wonderful alternative comedy, there's also a heavy-handed seriousness that comes alongside it. While the monster visual effects are impressive, you are left feeling a little confused over what kind of movie this piece wants to be?
Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is a jaded party girl who has been thrown out by her boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens). Relocating to her childhood home in Middle America, she reconnects with former school friend and bar owner Oscar (Jason Sudeikis). During her stay, the world is left in shock when a giant monster suddenly appears and attacks Seoul, Korea. Slowly Gloria begins to realise that she and this beast might be neurologically connected.
The first half of Colossal is a goofy and enjoyable ride. Gloria is a woman lost in a drunken haze, her introduction sees her breeze in hungover yet again and gives Tim another series of bad explanations that see her kicked out. Jobless for over a year and without prospects, she goes home with her tail between her legs. Her time with Oscar initially gives the movie a rom-com feel as he gives her a waitressing job and she hangs out with him and his buddy's Garth (Tim Blake Nelson) and Joel (Austin Stowell). When the gigantic monster appears, Gloria along with the world is initially horrified. Then she begins to notice the beast has some familiar hand gestures. Then it becomes apparent that whenever she crosses as a local playground at the same time each morning, she is wreaking havoc on South Korea. Frustratingly we never really get a proper explanation for how she and the creature are properly connected.
What begins as a lark soon becomes something else. Watching her drunkenly show off her big secret to her buddies is the comic highlight. Soon it is revealed that Oscar is also able to appear in Seoul as a massive robot. It is from this point that Vigalondo switches the tone of the film completely. As Gloria attempts to abstain from alcohol, Oscar's behaviour towards her grows colder. Obviously still attracted to her even after years of no contact, a more possessive and creepy side comes over him. This is where the picture begins to lose direction, although this picture has comedic chops it seems to want to go more into drama mode. A darker approach dominates the remainder of the movie and it feels very out of place. Convinced that no matter how out of control he acts, his lady friend will stay with him Oscar soon becomes the bane of Gloria's existence.
The real monsters of Colossal are revealed to be Gloria and Oscar and their descent into a huge fallout is putting lives at risk. One scene, Oscar shows off by stamping his feet around the playground. Each big step has screams coming after it, what started as harmless fun has turned into a life or death scenario. Gloria might not be the easiest character to warm to, but compared to Oscar she is definitely more able to save herself. Had Vigalondo keep things along a lighter line this could have been more memorable. Then again, it's hard to keep a movie about destruction bright and breezy for too long.
Anne Hathaway still proves she can play a likeable loser as Gloria. Always acting on impulse, her life has become a series of explanations which all lead to the same conclusion. The way Hathaway plays her growing horror about her situation is marvellous. At first the hapless drunk, her ascent to being more resourceful shows she is still a great lead. Jason Sudeikis at first appears to be going along the same lines of his nice guy style. This is a darker and uncomfortable part than he has been allowed to play previously. Sudeikis makes for a decent villain and it will be interesting to see if gets another chance to let loose again.
Colossal is a picture that has a truly original premise, but due to the confusion over its direction, it's not one that will stick in our memory.
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