Film Review: "Colossal"

"Colossal" is a 2016 film directed by Nacho Vigalondo and starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, about a woman with some alcohol problems who learns about a strange gift she has control over.

I'm not going to spoil anything, because honestly, it's much better that you know near-nothing about this movie going in. But I will say that this is one strange f***ing movie.

Let me elaborate. The central conceit of the story is quite ingenious, but writer/director Nacho Vigalondo twists the story so that it turns into a strong running commentary about empowerment, societal misogyny, substance addiction, the lack of empathy in mass blockbuster death and destruction, and the fake quirkiness of indie romantic comedies. It was so fascinating to watch something so ambitious out of what I thought was going to be another quirky romantic comedy, but with a monster. Because it catches you off-guard with its intentions, the points stick much more than if it were a typical preachy indie film.

That's not to say that it completely works, and the shifts in tone can be jarring and sometimes unwarranted, the commentary too underdeveloped in parts to fully work. But for the most part, this movie pulls it off, and it's definitely a value-adding movie at the end of the day.

Anne Hathaway is really great in this film, her performance flexible enough to change with the tone of the story, but firmly well-defined so that it doesn't feel like a different character in every scene. This is honestly one of her best performances, and one that should get her awards attention in a better world. Jason Sudeikis is also really good, and he absolutely nails the shifts in tone that this story provides his character.

These two actors really deserve praise because without them, this movie will honestly never work. Any actor with less skill and dedication than these two would've killed the movie just by f***ing up a line delivery or even a stare, but these two are so in sync with the film that they help make the movie great.

"Colossal" is one hell of a balancing act, and its existence destroys the idea being spread these days about how today's art is now just boring, derivative homages to past work. THIS FILM is absolutely unique, and in every fiber of its being. There are still new angles to explore, new stories to find and tell, and all you have to do is be willing to find it. I hope that this movie gets to find a larger audience and following, because it would be disappointing if something this strange and this unique is buried into oblivion by duller awards-bait and derivative blockbuster spectacles.

For everyone bored with the "Fast and Furious" and the "Pirates of the Caribbeans" and the "J. Edgars" and the other millions of dreck out there, this is the film you're waiting for.