Nacho Vigalondo has always been an exciting filmmaker for me. Ever since I saw his first feature film Timecrimes, I’ve always wanted to see more of this work. His handling of genre film and melding it with themes of humanity or topical themes has always fascinated and thrilled me.
Timecrimes was a great time-travel film that revolved around infidelity; Extraterrestrial was an entertaining sci-fi movie that just so happened to be a rom-com; while Open Windows was a nail-biting thriller that happened to revolve around the invasion of privacy.
So when I heard that Vigalondo was making a film that featured a kaiju monster, I was in. And having the biggest star to date with Anne Hathaway as the lead actor and producer, the film has some big expectations to fill. And knowing nothing about the genre it is executing for, will Vigalondo live up to the bonkers premise?
Anne Hathaway stars as Gloria, a trainwreck in human form. Because of her relentless partying and drinking, she has been dumped by her boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens), has lost her job as a magazine writer and has no place to live. So she reluctantly moves back to her hometown.
Struggling to stay awake, let alone trying to get her life back on track, she finds her way into Oscar (Jason Sudekis), a childhood friend of Gloria who may or may not have feelings for her. As he helps her get back on her feet, a giant monster is attacking Seoul, Korea and through some strange coincidences (or maybe the drinking finally has long-term effects), she strangely has some sort of connection to said monster.
As much as I want to go into extreme detail about the story, I know I can’t because not only do I want to spoil the many surprises, but the film is best if you know absolutely nothing about it, beyond the premise. Even the trailer doesn’t spoil much, which is surprising. But what I can say with utmost honesty is that Colossal is one of the best films I have seen this year so far.
In essence, the film is a female self-empowerment story that just happens to have a giant monster in it. And it is the melding of these genres that makes the film so original. But none of it would be effective if it weren’t for Nacho Vigalondo‘s direction.
Executing the film’s tone as straight as possible, finding the sincerity in all of its grounded themes and bringing the best out of his actors, Vigalondo just knocks it out of the park. The themes here, including coming to terms with ones’ self and overcoming addictions, are all dealt with in surprising ways. Like how the monster can be a metaphor for our destructive selves and how they can harm others. Even something as minor as a playground fight, where Gloria puts up her dukes, can have such strong meaning behind it.
Speaking of putting up dukes, there are many monster scenes in the film, which are very well done considering the budget, and the way the story combines both the human story and the monster story together in the climax is absolutely satisfying, both emotionally and cinematically.
A lot of the credit goes to actors, which include Anne Hathaway, who gives her best performance since Rachel Getting Married. Funnily enough, the character of Gloria is quite similar her character in Married due to the fact that they are both trainwrecks, they both repel everybody close to them and they both refuse to take responsibility for their own actions.
But in Colossal, Hathaway manages to find a sweet, relatable side to her character that makes it convincing that people would want to be around her as well as the audience wanting to root for her. It also helps that Hathaway still has her comedic chops (evident in The Princess Diaries that made her a star in the first place) and the film gives her ample opportunities to utilise them.
As for Dan Stevens (whom I like to call the new Cary Elwes), he isn’t in the film that much (possibly due to being in Legion and Beauty and the Beast), but he does show a panicky wide-eyed side to his character that did make me laugh, like when his character confronts Sudekis’ character.
Speaking of Sudekis, his performance is one of the most surprising things in the film. Without spoiling anything, his character is charming, if a little clingy. He is also quite generous, if a little intrusive and he is very laid-back, if a little uninitiated. But it is these “ifs” and many more that makes his character compelling and when he gradually reveals who he really is, that is when Sudekis shows he is more than just his comic persona.
As for flaws, there are scenes where you can nitpick logical errors (like how can one character forget or repress such an event) and abrupt tone shifts (which is quite befitting considering the drunk state of Gloria), but neither is enough to knock down the solid, yet unorthodox foundations that are surprisingly down-to-earth: seeing the humanity within the monster and how one’s self-empowerment can be the greatest gift one’s self can give.
Colossal is one of the best movies of the year and for those who are complaining that we do not see original films in the cinema – well this is one of them. I really hope that a lot of people see it, just so we can have more films like it. The very fact that this film exists is fantastic enough, but for it to work as effectively as it does is a miraculous achievement.
Like a fellow film critic of mine once said: If we don’t see the movies that deserve it, we get the movies that we deserve.
Review Score: FOUR AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Colossal is in Australian cinemas nationally from Thursday, 13th April 2017 through Transmission Films.
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