'Monsters' not so scary after all
Even if the visually similar "Cloverfield" and the thematically similar "District 9" didn't already exist, "Monsters" would still seem painfully hackneyed and obvious.
See if you can figure out what the allegory is within this sci-fi tale: A couple of Americans stranded in Mexico can't get back across the border because there's a giant infected zone filled with scary aliens blocking their way. American troops who patrol this northernmost part of the country are arrogant jerks, while the Mexican people who help our twenty-something travelers are generous and kind.
Once they do reach the edge of the United States, they see a tall, foreboding wall intended to keep intruders out.
In case we still can't figure out the point of Gareth Edwards' film, he has one of his characters state the following: "You know, it's different looking at America from the outside, in."
Yes, "Monsters" really is that heavy-handed, which might have been more tolerable if it had at least offered some vague tension or even the slightest glimmer of chemistry between its two stars, who share the screen pretty much the entire time.
Photojournalist Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy) has been covering the ugly, ongoing battle between humans and the aliens they've been struggling to contain. His publisher's daughter, Sam Wynden (Whitney Able), finds herself trapped in Mexico and needing an escort back home. They're reluctant companions on this journey, which means naturally they're going to end up falling for each other because they're facing extraordinary circumstances together and, well, because they're in a movie.
And when a couple of aliens finally do encounter each other for Kaulder and Sam and the audience to see ... well, it's meant to be hugely symbolic, too. But you get the sense that Gareth only knows how to toy with lofty concepts rather than dig deeper and offer real critical meaning.
TITLE: “Monsters”CAST: Scoot McNairy, Whitney AbleDIRECTOR: Gareth EdwardsRATED: R for languageGRADE: ★★¹⁄₂ (out of 5)
