Rated R for language, 94 minutes
Low-budget "Monsters" doesn't have many of them
For a movie about and called "Monsters," there sure aren't many of them. On one hand, the movie is efficient, no-nonsense and intriguing, on the other hand the film's low-budget is never more apparent, given there's very little of the actual monsters. A NASA probe sent out to gather samples on alien life crashes in Central America, mainly in Mexico, and it becomes an "infected zone" since the place is crawling with some huge, awful alien creatures that cause considerable death and destruction.
Visual-effects producer Gareth Edwards debut feature film, "Monsters" shows promise by providing some tension and not relying too much on gore to make a point. Still, Edwards doesn't show the creatures enough, and we're stuck with a boring story of an American journalist (Scoot McNairy) escorting a young rich girl (Whitney Able) to safety through the infected zone. "Monsters" has an original story and the potential to be the next "District 9," but it's low-budget hampers the film, as there are large, large chunks of the film that are creature-less. The special effects are impressive for the small film, but it's not until the final scene that we truly get to see the creature up close and personal, something most impatient audiences won't enjoy.
Part sci-fi and part post-apocalpytic world, "Monsters" is an otherwise dreary, depressing film, as if "District 9" were written by Cormac McCarthy. However, Edwards is a director and writer to watch, and could do better work with a better cast and bigger budget.
