Monsters

2010

Director Gareth Edwards

Science Fiction is constantly at war. With itself. It is the genre that, when done right, is amazing. But when done poorly, is an easy target for dismissive mockery. For every La jetée, there’s a Flash Gordon. For every Blade Runner, a Battlefield Earth. Great science fiction will never be able to shake away its shitty offspring, which is why, when a great one comes along, such as Gareth Edwards’ feature film debut Monsters, it needs to be championed as loudly as possible.

After a NASA deep-space probe crashes in Mexico, alien life form begins to generate in the area surrounding the border with the U.S, and is quickly quarantined. Andrew Kaulder is a photographer given the task of escorting his wealthy employer’s daughter, Samantha, back home through the quarantined zone safely.

Let’s get the obvious thing out of the way. Monsters cost roughly $500,000 to make and looks better than most multi-million dollar blockbusters. A staggering achievement. Admittedly most of what Gareth Edwards is filming doesn’t require much, but even then he handles the cinematography with enough care to avoid sliding into televisual despair. When the money is on display, it is there to a penny. The creatures look magnificent. Edwards shrouds them in an anticipation that even the title strengthens. They are ever in the background, but in the foreground rarely. Getting the most bang out of your buck. Without the budget it is impossible for Edwards to conjure King Kong or Pirates of the Caribbean level creature effects, but he has learned from the masters. His methodical reveal of the aliens is akin to Spielberg’s finest work in Jaws or War of the Worlds, or even to fellow newcomer Matt Reeves in the recent Cloverfield. Perfect sleight of hand. The less you see, the more you want. Edwards shows incredible intelligence for one so young.

He is blessed with a fine cast too, despite only consisting of two people. But Whitney Able and Scoot McNairy are gripping as Samantha and Andrew respectively, and they need to be, considering that they are both on screen for the entire 94 effortless minutes. The title suggests otherwise, but it is a human relationship at the heart of Monsters. McNairy creates a loveable geezer in Andrew, whilst Able manages to inject enough personality into the beautiful Sam.

Like Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, Monsters is another fresh look at a much maligned genre. When you have guys such as Blomkamp, Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code), Matt Reeves, J. J. Abrams and now Gareth Edwards pulling up new seats at the dinner table, it makes the future look very bright indeed. Or not. It could be a dystopian future…

**** ½ / *****