Monsters: Dark Continent
Before Gareth Edwards set a large beast on the America in the Godzilla adaptation, he took to the world and unleashed Monsters, a tiny independent film that echoed with a bigger acclaim and levelled the director into the blockbuster realm. The uneasiness on a small budget as the creatures roared terrifically on our screens made Edwards a major
player in Hollywood and more. With a brand new sequel, it is up to Misfits director Tom Green to carry on the excellent story that Edwards had gifted the cinematic world. Only he doesn’t, he creates a different kind of beast that is both badly done and horrific.
Monsters: Dark Continent revolves around four young lads who sign up for the monster war happening in the Middle East. With a brand new breed of Aliens that are hitting the deserts, every time the American army fights back against them, they end up bombing a few places and making the locals extremely angry (as they should be). Yet when the Army get to the fight, they start to realise that no amount of training had every prepared them for the treacherous battle. Can all of them survive and find it back home? What do you think?
This isn’t a movie about monsters, it’s about war. And it’s not just about war. It’s the most clichéd one you’ll ever see. Ever. It’s less about the aliens and more about the relationships between the men who go to war and how each death affects our lead Michael. Which that sentiment isn’t a bad thing but take away the practically non-existent monsters and it’s a failed attempt at recreating the efforts of films such as Black Hawk Down, Jar Head and Saving Private Ryan only doing it appallingly.
Teaming with heavy bout so testosterone, Monsters: Dark Continent hits every cliché and therefore, every spout of offense is laden in this atrocious film. Because here, detracting away from the monsters means stereotyping the rich land of the Middle East and its inhabitants much worse than American Sniper ever did. You could say that, a British Cast and a British Director are trying to wield a tongue at America and its war ethics. But this isn’t a satire - it’s an action film and instead imitates the borderline racist viewpoints like every goddam war movie about the Middle East.
What’s worse is the treatment of women here. From what I recall, Monsters had a leading lady who fought and fought well. Instead of carrying that tradition, the movie here opts for a misogynistic feel for a movie set somewhat in the future. Within the first twenty minutes, the only women shown were in other the top sex scenes that were in place to titillate the audience and the men on the screen like breasts with no emotion. Then there is one birth scene that is solely in place for this: Man has love for his wife and new-born son so therefore his death i
s going to be more painful in a whole whirlwind of war written stereotypes (including the “black guys die first” one too, by the way). Not to mention that in a somewhat futuristic film, having an army that is full of guys is a bit amiss. It’s infuriating because clearly the tone is this, Monsters: Dark Continent is not for you, woman. It’s for men. Men can only enjoy action and science fiction movies. And that’s why reducing the characters to nothing but fodder for sexual impulses is heinously wrong here. Heck, even Kingsmen: Secret Service managed to deliver bromantic tendencies alongside strong female characters making it accessible for everyone. Monsters: Dark Continent is the exact opposite
, lazy ham-handed writing with no remorse for the shit they are peddling out.
On a big and bulking budget, Tom Green does little to excite and much more to offend here. It is a waste of the cast talents who genuinely try to put in energetic and enjoyable performances such as these. Though their accents may waver (because despite being mostly British, this is set in an America troop making this the most ‘Murican film made by British people), Joe Dempsie, Sam Keeley and the excellent Johnny Harris all provide evocative characters that are marred by the writing rather than the acting.
Monsters: Dark Continent is a waste of talent and skill. More importantly, it’ll be a waste of your money if you chose to see it.
Monsters: Dark Contient is out this Friday