Colossal (2016) Reviews

• The problem with Colossal is not Colossal's problem.

  pazu72017-08-25

  Fist off, this is a good film. Let me get that out of the way. To h*ll with the haters. It's smart. Clever. Unique. If you pay attention there are plenty of gags. Hathaway shines and all the rest. It's just NOT the film the trailers lead people to believe, and I really hate that. The trailers filled seats with people who were expecting to see some quirky romcom and instead they got 'Annie Darko' and wound up hating it. And this is a major pet peeve of mine. The same thing happened with "White God" This kind of advertising always backfires. The PR dpt just puts together any trailer they think will fill the seats on opening night, then it brings the wrong audience and hurts the film in the long run. Colossal should have been advertised like "Motorama" or "The Dark Backwards"... or "Eating Raul". It's a dark edgy comedy and it's not supposed to be of the 'wacky wild hilarity' genre'. OK, it's not a life altering cinema, but it is far better than most of the critiques I've read. And one thing all those critiques had in common...? They all said it wasn't what they were expecting, or it couldn't figure out what it wanted to be. Wrong. The film was exactly what it was trying to be. The viewers just couldn't figure out what it was doing because they all thought it was trying to do something else.... primarily because of the way it was presented. Not that it's easy to describe. Just abandon your preconceived notions before you watch. I actually like it better than the film I thought it would be.

  More

• Curious fantasy drama is flawed but still worth a look

  soxlade2017-05-29

  Colossal is a film from Spanish director Nacho Vigalondo. It stars Anne Hathaway as Gloria, a thirty-something wastrel who would much rather be out all night drinking with her friends than growing up, getting a job etc. When she is dumped by her boyfriend (Dan Stevens, channeling Hugh Grant) and kicked out of the flat they share, she returns to her hometown and the rental house her parents own where she almost immediately meets old school friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) who not only has always had feelings for his old school friend, but also happens to own a bar and employs Gloria as a waitress. One drunken evening ends with Gloria spending the night on a playground bench, the same night a giant monster appears over Seoul wreaking havoc. Gloria slowly begins to realise that she may have something to do with this event, in fact the monster may actually be her... This is a strange film, let's be frank - you ain't going to see something like this again this, or any, year. It is like a Godzilla film seen through the prism of indie self-improvement films like Garden State. Or, if you prefer, something akin to Juno with a Kaiju. It is a film that is a little unsure of itself, despite the brilliant idea at its core. It is not a comedy, though it is fitfully amusing and the presence of Sudeikis, nor is it a 'growing up' movie, instead it is closer to a monster movie, but the monsters involved are not necessarily the obvious green stompy thing flattening Seoul, more the monsters that live within each and every one of us. However it never quite pulls all of its themes and plot threads together satisfactorily, perhaps it never could, and its tone is a little uneven in places. This is a film that does not go where you think the premise might take it. This is a surprisingly dark film, with unapologetic, unlikable characters that are obsessed with nihilistic, destructive emotions and struggle to repress and control them when really they wish to embrace them. Hathaway, as far away from her traditional elfin princess appearance as she's ever been, is effective as Gloria, though we never really warm to her. It is a measure of the actress's skill that we are clearly not meant to ever love and root for Gloria, but we do wish the best for her, we hope she makes the 'right' choices that would assist her goal to get her life under control even though we know, deep down, she's hopeless. Peering out from under an unflattering fringe, hair unkempt and unbrushed, black eye make-up and cracked lips she bears an uncanny resemblance to UK TV presenter Claudia Winkleman. Hers is a performance of charm, darkness, obsession, addiction and cruelty. The revelation is Sudeikis who initially delivers his standard, unimpressive, nice guy schtick- a performance he is very good at, it's just not hugely stand-out - but as the film, and Oscar, take a darker tone, Sudeikis subtly shifts gear, moving into menace and threat. It is an unstable performance, shifting suddenly and violently between nice guy and monster A man unhappy with his life, Oscar the bar owner is a thin veneer of respectability and decency wrapped around a cruel narcissistic bully. Sudeikis brilliantly shows the veneer cracking, splitting and revealing the monster that inhabits the man. It is a very impressive performance. The dark themes, twisted characters and bonkers premise was never going to be completed satisfactorily, and it isn't. The plot demands the mystery is resolved and the threat dealt with and the film does so, but not as neatly or imaginatively as you might hope. It proves impossible to reconcile the two parts of the story, monster in Seoul and monster in soul, in a way that serves both threads well. It is hard to root for Gloria as she finally steps up the the heroine role the monster in Seoul story thread demands, because we've seen she's really a bit of a hopeless selfish drunken stupid girl. Colossal is imaginative, flawed film blessed with exceptional performances from Stevens, Hathaway and especially Sudeikis. It is not a comedy, it is not a monster movie (though there are loads of loving homages in shots and music cues), it is not an indie redemption movie, it is all of those things together, and it is not a total success, but nor is it a total failure. It is a curiosity, and if you are cinematically curious, you should check it out.

  More

• Delightful 'Absurdist' Film -- Hathaway Soars

  A_Different_Drummer2017-04-28

  In my many of my prior reviews I have "beaten the drum" on one particular theme -- namely, that back in the days before CGI and the studios' ravenous hunger for new franchises to monetize indefinitely, films worked based on the ability of the director and the stars to "connect" with the audience. One word. Connection. But the implications can be astounding. Colossal, for example, reminded me of 1966's Georgy Girl, oddly also a story about a young girl whose Life needs a complete remake, and she more or less has to start over from scratch. Georgy Girl was a major hit in the 1960s -- without any sci-fi elements or SFX -- because, somewhere around the 5 minute mark, everyone in the theatre, even the guys, began to identify with the character. In other words, connection. Once you have connection, anything is possible. Recommended. Sit back. Think of times in your own life when all four wheels fell off the wagon. Enjoy it. And pay special attention to Hathaway's wonderful performance. For an A-list star who was weaned in the Disney studio, and held her own against Batman, she dons a hairdo that looks like it was done by a local vet ... and then proceeds to sell the role so effectively that, after a while, you honestly wonder if anyone else could have played the lead?

  More

• Underrated

  8512222017-08-30

  Greetings from Lithuania. I found "Colossal" (2016) much more interesting, dark and deep then i thought i will be after reading a premise. This isn't your typical comedy staring Jason Sudeikis - it isn't funny movie, except if you are looking for some very dark comedy. Premise here looks like from a mind of Spike Jonze of Charlie Kaufman. Although it isn't as brilliant as those two might have made this movie - i loved the story overall and movie itself. Ovreall, "Colossal" is a kinda fresh take on a premise. There is a very dark humor down below, but i enjoyed it very much in a first place because of very solid writing, pacing (at running time 1 h 43 min this movie never dragged) and not by "a numbers" movie. Good, underrated movie.

  More

• An Engaging Character Study Advertised as a Dumb Comedy

  SquigglyCrunch2017-08-25

  Colossal follows a woman who discovers that she controls a giant monster attacking Seoul with her movements, and how she tries to learn to manage that responsibility. Upon seeing the trailers I dismissed this as a garbage comedy with a dumb concept, but upon seeing the movie it's something much more. For starters, the concept is handled in a way that I didn't at all expect. It handles it with a lot of seriousness. It takes a concept that could make for a mildly entertaining children's movie, and shows it how it would really play out. The characters who get involved are real people and when the monster comes into play there are real consequences. When it comes down to it, this is a movie about supernatural circumstances and how people would respond to those circumstances if they became reality. And as a result, the movie is very unique. It's a one-of-a-kind movie. Some of this uniqueness does come through as self-aware, out there comedy. Most of it works, but it's very unusual. Still, with a concept like this one, they don't really feel out of place. Looking back at those scenes they were really weird, but still fun. Most of it isn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it's good. As much as I did love this movie, there is a point towards the last act where one character has a fairly sudden mental switch and while it doesn't really distract from the flow of the film, it's hard to ignore it. Overall I loved Colossal. As a comedy it isn't that good, but as a movie it's great. I loved the direction the movie took, and I can't wait to see it again. In the end I would definitely recommend watching it.

  More