Eugene weekly., January 13, 2011, Page 27, Image 27

movies
BY MOLLY TEMPLETON
Land Squid!
And a big almost for Monsters
MONSTERS:
Written, directed and fi lmed by
Gareth Edwards. Visual effects and production design,
Gareth Edwards. Music, Jon Hopkins. Starring Whitney
Able and Scoot McNairy. Magnolia Pictures, 2010. R. 93
minutes. 44211
I
t’s such a pain in the ass when
you’re a photojournalist who gets
commandeered into getting the boss’s
daughter home safely when the U.S./
Mexico border is frequented by a species
of aliens that look rather like land squid
with way too many tentacles.
Via a series of not entirely convincing
events, Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy)
fi nds himself in just this position. Some
sort of employee/freelancer for some sort
of publication, Kaulder happens to be in
the area when a monster attack happens.
Some people are hurt, some buildings
are destroyed, but the point — for the
privileged Americans — is that Sam
Wynden (Whitney Able), pixieish and
blonde, needs to get home. Clearly she
cannot accomplish this alone. Not with
kilometers of “infected zone” between her
and America.
Director/writer/jack-of-all-trades
Gareth Edwards has a pretty decent idea
in Monsters, which is hardly the fi rst
fi lm to suggest that scary alien beings are
sometimes a little misunderstood, but his
execution is lacking. Monsters looks great;
its ruined buildings and pulsing alien
lifeforms are thoroughly convincing, and
the fi lm’s lush vegetal settings give it an
organic feel that underlines its vague notions
about boundaries, misunderstandings and
the results of mistrusting those we consider
“other.” (Hello, District 9, I see you
over there, lording it over this subgenre
of sci-fi fl icks with your undeserved
Oscar nomination.) The actual monsters,
glimpsed mostly in pieces or on television
news reports, are fascinatingly alien but
feel like props popping up to move the
action along. A good alien movie requires
a careful balance between too much and
not enough information, and Monsters’ text
intro, which outlines where the creatures
came from, feels disconnected from what
actually happens in the fi lm, six years after
fi rst contact.
But mostly a combination of plot and
awkward dialogue weakens the fi lm.
For a while, every sentence Sam utters
seems to begin or end with “Kaulder,” a
jarring distraction from the natural fl ow of
conversation. The series of contrivances
that lead Sam and Kaulder into the infected
zone piles up like an awkward sitcom:
Trouble on the train tracks! Uncaring ferry
operators! Too many shots of tequila! The
budding attraction between two people
with nothing in common but their situation!
Reading about the fi lm’s shoot — a tiny
crew hiring locals for small parts, shooting
by the seat of their pants while their leads
improvise — gives plenty of reasons to
give Edwards and his cast and crew a
lot of credit for perseverance and moxie,
but the result is still underwhelming.
Monsters’ patchy framework of ideas
and allegory pulls bits and bobs from the
headlines: natural (or unnatural) disaster,
immigration, journalistic ethics and
understanding between cultures. The way
locals shrug at the alien threat, lacking the
option of a theoretically safer life on the
other side of the American border fence,
says more than any clunky conversation
Sam and Kaulder might have about the
value of photographs of dead children,
or the ease with which they might forget
all this once they get home. Monsters is
a huge almost: The themes almost gel.
The story almost transcends its clichéd
beginning. And then the end (striking
imagery aside) almost undoes the stronger
parts of what’s come before. Just this side
of disappointing, the movie is a hell of a
calling card for Edwards’ ability as a low-
budget maker of visually enticing fi lms —
provided he can make room for a writer on
his tiny crew.
ew
Monsters opens Friday, Jan. 14, at the Bijou.
sushi
seoul
FORMERLY BREWED AWAKENING
TASTY & MOST AFFORDABLE
PRICES IN EUGENE
SUSHI & KARAOKE
serving breakfast
7am - 1pm everyday
off
6
$
serving korean food & sushi
& sandwiches
YOUR FOOD PURCHASE
11:30pm - 10pm everyday
OF $50 OR MORE WITH THIS COUPON EXP. 1/27/11
KARAOKE AVAILABLE AT NIGHTTIME BY RESERVATION
2532 Willakenzie Eugene across from Sheldon HS | 342-6861 | EVERYDAY 7am - 10pm
Join the Willamette Valley Sustainable Food Alliance for
Fun with Fermentation:
A one-day festival featuring the Willamette Valley’s best
cheeses, wines, beers, kombucha, breads and more.
Learn about fermentation while
visiting with local companies who
produce fermented foods.
Demos and Tastings:
Introduction to Fermentation
(History & Benefi ts)
Vegetable Ferments & Dosas
Beer
Kombucha
Goat Cheese & Yogurt
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
Mark Your Calendars
January 15, 2011 - noon-5pm
$10-20 for individuals or
$5 with 2 cans of food
Children 12 & under FREE
WOW Hall 291 W 8th - Eugene
Th is event is a fundraiser for
FOOD for Lane County
and WVSFA
EUGENE WEEKLY JANUARY 13, 2011 27