gmosko-312-658527 There is a real hater's review that caused me to write my own review. The prior guy, i_am_bryony, moaned and whined about how terrible EVERYTHING was. The sets, the acting, the writing, everything! To give equal time to some sensible thought, I really enjoyed this movie, especially considering how few dollars were spent on production! I have read that it was made for $15,000 ! That alone is worthy of an award. I applaud the under-use of monster reveals. You barely see them at all, but you know what they look like from crude drawings, presented in the context of the movie. Almost at t he very end, we actually meet one of them, and then see another alien interacting with the first alien. Their action was carefully very gentle. The entire final sequence--night time at the deserted gas station--was completely haunting. I mean it. The remoteness, the feeling of being alone, and the total lack of protection--these things elicited a real feeling in me. I think the write/director deserves HUGE kudos. I really like this little jewel of a film.

rodhackenflasch It's not just the bad acting, and boring, drawn out, meaningless dialog that lends nothing to the weak plot. Add to that a lousy screenplay and an utterly ridiculous premise. Then there's the giant extraterrestrial tentacled CGI creatures - with pulsating neon lighting inside, two of which rendezvous at a gas station and have alien sex (?) in the final scene while the the two main characters just stand nearby and watch- unmolested.

Mr Carrington I expected this to be the same old low budget, alien/ zombie slush but it isn't at all. Its very different. In fact its not about the monsters and whilst their threat lies menacingly in the background the creatures hardly feature until the end.The movie didn't really need to be about monsters, it could easily and probably would have been more genuine had it been about a war-zone or a disease ridden area. The only purpose served by the aliens is to stamp the "lovers meet then part" message in the story.The "extraordinary", is in the acting and the relationship of the two characters, and their empty lives which is frank and realistic and without the usual romantic filling guff. This is set amongst an almost travelogue style backdrop of rural Mexico which is true, gritty and human.A pleasant refreshing movie, weakened only by the glimpse of the somewhat redundant "monsters".

Drew Ward (akwsixers10) Monster's was shot out of the back of a van for three weeks in Mexico and Central America. Three of those seven were director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) and our two stars, Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able. What these three and the remaining crew have produced is something of a miracle. I was interested in finishing of Edwards filmography in preparation for the release of the Star Wars spin-off Rogue One, having already seen 2014's visually dazzling, if not to a fault, Godzilla. I can report with utmost confidence that Monsters is the far better film, bringing a human element to the monster genre like very few films of its kind. Maybe the most impressive aspect of the story is its politics, which, while Edwards said wasn't the intention, is a striking commentary on U.S./Mexico immigration. One could argue their is a clairvoyance to this movie. The U.S. has erected a wall that is meant to keep out alien invaders that have crash landed over Mexico during a NASA mission to affirm the existence of extraterrestrial life on one of Jupiter's moons. With that, we meet Andrew Caulder (McNairy), a broke photographer sent by his boss to find his daughter somewhere in southern Mexico. We meet the daughter Samantha (Able) and follow the two on their tumultuous journey back to the United States. While the twos' performances won't win any awards, they are serviceable enough to convincingly move along the plot which relies heavily on human interaction and relationship rather than the tentacled monsters for which the film was named. On their journey, the two bond with each other, both engulfed in family problems back home. In the films most beautiful and allegorical moment, Sam and Andrew climb to the top of a ruined pyramid from a civilization long past as they catch view of the towering border wall, reminiscing on how different their lives will be on the other side of the wall, free from fear and back to a normal routine. It is really quite moving and Edwards captures some stunning shots with his minimal equipment that rival anything released in 2010 (and that's saying something since Inception released the same summer). I would be remiss not to mention the titular space creatures. They really are only seen in a scene or two throughout the film and take a backseat to the human drama playing out. The ending scene is cinema perfection and Edwards deserves all the credit for self-animating the aliens using purchasable software in his bedroom. Also, a shout out to the many extras who were all natives of the country in which filming took place, they provide some of the most organic moments of the film and deserve praise. If Monsters tells me anything, it may be time for Edwards to return to low budget fare, where he gets the most of what he has available without being dragged down by the burden of franchise filmmaking.