I went into this movie with the wrong idea. I was not disappointed in what I got, but still it was not what I expected. I had expected a creature feature like a “Cloverfield” meets a “District 9” yes there are some vague elements of them in “Monsters” but it’s not really so much about the monsters and their attacks. It’s about relationships that go on with the two protagonists in the wake of an extraordinary situation.
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| Please pass the mustard gas. |
There is a lot of fear and build up for the monsters that you hear about. These things are giant creatures that you only catch glimpses of and hear as they cry in the jungle. They don’t seem to attack unless provoked if that makes sense. There are lots of themes that this movie explores as well including the border issue, corruption, nonchalance with violence and it even gives a nod to movies like “Apocalypse Now”.
It would be wrong not to mention the actors who do a great job playing off one another and the other folks they come across on their journey. From what I read many of the other performers were not actors but were locals that were untrained and shot on location to give it more authenticity. I’ll tell you this. It works.
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| If only I knew what happened here. |
The Mexico it portrays is a mix of beautiful and deadly. Slowly being taken back by nature as the area near the border is considered the Infection Zone and then there are aspects of seeing total devastation treated with complete nonchalance which is almost humorous to watch. It’s a really good movie with a theme that really monsters and not just beauty may be in the eye of the beholder.
I can just tell that walking out at first it took me a second to absorb it all. If this movie didn’t have the relationships and the themes I don’t think the movie would have been nearly as effective. It would have been just trying to M. Night us by giving us a monster movie without monsters and that would just be cheating. This works so much better.
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